Chuck vs His Former Handler
by MyNameIsJeffNImLost
Summary: About a month after downloading the Intersect, Chuck has it suppressed, so Sarah is recalled. Then what happens? AU from 1.04 on.
1. Balance Point

_Posted May 28, 2019_

A/N: Now that I don't have anything on hold, I was left vulnerable to plot bunnies that attack while re-watching season 1. I couldn't stop myself. Unlike my other non-crossover stories, this one starts as an AU. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nobody else owns anything here, so why would I?

Disclaimer 2: No beta. Why would I sucker/obligate/subject anyone into reading this when they didn't want to? However, if you PM me corrections, I'll fix them.

* * *

_**Late October 2007**_

* * *

"Chuck! Time to get up!" Ellie called from the hall outside Chuck's bedroom door. "I know it's your day off, but no wallowing in bed all day! Morgan better have gone home last night because I'm coming in!"

Chuck had been a mess for the past two weeks. It was the worst he had been since after Stanford. One day he was going to art auctions with his beautiful new girlfriend. His morale had been the best it had been in years. A few days later, Sarah was gone, and Chuck was sullen, only going to work and lying in bed. Last night, she actually invited Morgan over for a video game marathon/therapy session while she was at her night shift. She called Devon to check-in after 10, and he said Morgan had come out of Chuck's room once for grape soda, but the little man had shook his head and didn't look optimistic.

Ellie opened the door, holding one hand above her eyes as she entered her brother's bedroom. Earlier, she had seen the rinsed popcorn bowl by the sink, so apparently Chuck had cleaned after Morgan left, but there was still a chance Chuck's annoying little friend was passed out on the floor. No need to risk it.

"Ellie?" said a voice in a whisper. That wasn't Morgan or even Chuck. That was a woman's voice.

Ellie lowered her hand, only to discover Sarah in bed with Chuck. To say Ellie was shocked would be an understatement.

Sarah quietly extracted herself, removing Chuck's arm from where she had held it tightly, keeping him spooned at her backside.

Ellie opened her mouth several times, but never spoke because she couldn't figure out what to say. When Sarah left a couple weeks ago, Ellie figured she'd never see the blonde again, but there she was standing next to Chuck's bed wearing only one of his T-shirts and a pair of boxers.

Sarah held her finger up to her mouth and said, "We should be quiet. Chuck was up late last night. Let's talk in the kitchen."

Sarah quietly passed, lightly pulling Ellie's wrist to turn the woman as she walked by. That light pull was probably a good thing because Ellie was so surprised she had trouble thinking clearly enough to start down the hallway. Sarah let go of Ellie and kept going. Ellie took a few slow steps away from Chuck's room.

When Ellie finally traveled the few feet to the kitchen, Sarah was well into preparing her breakfast. She had never stayed over in the month in which she had dated Chuck, but she seemed to know where everything was. She had prepared a bowl of Devon's healthy grain cereal, a bowl of the Berry Loops that Chuck normally ate, two glasses of Orange Juice, and two more bowls of blueberries and strawberries.

Sarah tilted her head to the dishes in the sink and said, "It looks like you already ate, but would you like me to fix you something?"

That broke Ellie out of her state of dazed amazement. The kitchen was _her_ domain, and she didn't need anyone offering food from it to her, no matter how much she was walking around in a cloud. "No thank you. Here let me help you." Ellie carried a bowl and a glass over to the end of the table. Then she sat down directly to the left of Sarah's spot. Sarah brought the remaining food, setting a place in front of the unoccupied third spot to Sarah's right.

Ellie said, "Sarah, it's wonderful to see you, but I don't understand. What's going on? Are you back?"

Sarah finished swallowing a bite before saying, "For my job out East, I had a work trip to LA. I didn't tell Chuck because I didn't know until late last night I'd have any free time. When I had the chance, I came right over here because I missed him so much. I'm only here until tomorrow. Then I have to head back."

"Don't get me wrong. It's wonderful to see you, Sarah. But it sounds like you're doing it to him again."

"Doing what to him?"

"Leaving him to spiral further into depression. He's been a mess since you left. He said you two were over."

"I didn't know he had it so bad. That's horrible." She sounded genuinely upset at the thought of Chuck's misery. "I thought we might not see each other again, so we agreed on a clean break. It's not like I wanted that, but breaking it off seemed the most fair to him. I haven't been doing great either, pretty much just working and sleeping."

That was like Chuck. Ellie said, "I never understood what your job was. You had a job in DC, came out here and worked as a food service employee for about a month, then went back to your old job, which apparently needed you to go back there. What is so important to allow those kinds of demands on your life?"

Sarah didn't answer immediately. She took another bite of breakfast and a large drink of juice. She started, "When I came out here the first time, I didn't know if I'd ever go back to DC. I wasn't desperate for a large amount money, so after starting dating Chuck, I got a job at the Wienerlicious to be close to him. When circumstances changed, Chuck and I talked about it. While he might not have liked it, he understood why I had to go back."

Sarah stopped talking before she actually said anything about what she did. Instead, she said, "Chuck's up."

Ellie wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion at the abrupt halt to the answer. She hadn't heard anything. How could Sarah have known? Then Ellie heard the thud of a body hitting the side of the hallway. A moment later, she saw Chuck scramble to the opening just outside the dining room, before stumbling when he slid past the entrance, falling backwards onto the ground.

"Ow," he said.

Sarah immediately darted to his side. "Chuck, are you alright?"

Chuck quickly sat up part-way and enclosed Sarah in a bear hug, the best he could do while half on the ground. "You're real—not a dream."

Sarah laughed and said, "Yes, Chuck, I'm here."

She couldn't say anything else because they were kissing. A lot. Ellie had never made a point of looking, but their kisses before had always seemed almost chaste pecks on the cheek. As a spectator who was also a sister, she figured she should to clear her throat.

That immediately separated the couple. Sarah helped Chuck to his feet and indicated the cereal and fruit bowl she had previously made for him. She said, "Your breakfast is there. You ought to have the fruit too, so I fixed you some."

Chuck's face was the darkest red Ellie had ever seen as he went to grab the milk and sat at his designated place. That was the PDA-averse brother she knew. As he silently took his spot, he was not quite able to meet her gaze. Ellie trying to sound like she was just talking about normal stuff, not that the world had been flipped upside down, said to Chuck, "A few minutes ago, before I took a nap after my night-shift, I decided to wake you up so you wouldn't sleep away your day off. I'm lucky I didn't take in that bucket of water like I did a couple weeks after Stanford, because who do I find but—"

"Sarah is here!" Chuck abruptly interrupted.

Ellie laughed as she repeated the obvious. "Yes, I can see Sarah is here." She looked over to Sarah and saw a big closed-mouth grin on the woman's face as she ate more of her breakfast. Sarah had positioned Chuck close to the corner of the table and had moved herself closer as well. Ellie didn't have to be a spy to tell when under the table, Sarah put a leg over Chuck's. Chuck's little yelp of surprise was a confirming indicator. His eyes were already completely wide, and if anything, they widened further in surprise. Sarah just pleasantly continued chewing.

Ellie was happy for her brother, though he seemed just as surprised as she was. "What does this mean?" she asked.

Sarah put her hand on Chuck's on the table and said, "I needed to see Chuck, so I came by late last night. I'm really happy to be here with him, but I don't know what this means for the future."

"How did you even get in?" Ellie asked. "I know Devon would have at least told me if he knew you were here when he left."

Sarah explained, "I came in Chuck's window. I've heard it called the 'Morgan door.'"

"And to think I was going to get that nailed shut. I hadn't realized it would allow in good things too."

Sarah soberly said, "I still have to return back East tomorrow. Chuck and I will talk about what this means for our future, and we'll let you know. We need a different plan because that one wasn't good for either of us."

Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but Sarah cut her off. "I know you must have opinions about what is best for Chuck and ideas to make this situation better. I care about Chuck too, but I have to go back to work. I don't have a choice. Chuck understood before, but now, I know we need to try to figure out something else. Please give the two of us a chance to find a better solution."

Ellie mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key—not that it really kept her from talking. She bounced up, gave Sarah a hug from the side, and said, "I'm so glad you're here." Then she rounded the corner, giving Chuck another hug as he sat with a spoonful of cereal half raised. She quietly squealed, "I'm so happy for you." She straightened herself, took a deep breath, and pointed over her shoulder. "I don't know how I'll sleep now, but I really need to try to get at least four hours so I'll be awake when Devon gets off his shift. You're joining us for dinner tonight." That wasn't a question, and Sarah just nodded at the order. Ellie grinned and practically skipped back to her room, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

Sarah leaned across the table and gave Chuck a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her meal. Chuck resumed eating as well, though he repeatedly looked over at Sarah in amazement. Under the table, he had a grip on Sarah's leg which had remained over his own, a pleasant ability of a girlfriend with extremely long legs.

Sarah finished first and seemed content to just stare at Chuck. Chuck hurried to the end, even eating the fruit because she prepared it. Sarah cleared the dishes, giving him a kiss before she left for the kitchen.

As Sarah rinsed the dishes in the sink, Chuck can up behind her and said, "What now?"

Sarah put down the bowl she was rinsing into the bottom of the sink and pulled Chuck's arms around her before going back to rinsing. With dishes stacked next to the sink, she rotated to face Chuck, putting her arms over his shoulders and weaving her fingers through his curly hair. "As much as I'd love to head back to bed, we really shouldn't, so we're not still there when Ellie gets up."

The ramifications of that thought startled Chuck. "Meep."

"We should shower and get ready for the day. You first. I have to get my suitcase from my car." She punctuated the idea with a peck on the lips. "Don't worry. I'm not leaving until tomorrow."

Chuck leaned in for what ended up being a much longer kiss. Sarah pushed him off, turned him towards the exit of the room, and swatted his rear lightly as he left.

* * *

_**The night before**_

Chuck woke to the pleasant smell of vanilla. He felt a breath against his neck, so he opened his eyes only to see locks of blonde hair. He felt the attached head move and a nose nuzzle against his neck. He pulled back a little to make sure, and yes, he saw it was Sarah. It was another one of those good nights of sleep because he was dreaming about her again. He wasn't sure it would come—whether it would be one of those good nights or if he had been too exhausted when Morgan left after 1.

The clock said it was 2:30. That was strange, because normally his dreams were timeless. It was a better dream, though. It felt more real. He looked back to his bed companion to find her staring back into his eyes. She moved up a little and their lips met.

Definitely a better dream.

* * *

_**The next morning**_

Chuck didn't understand how he could get so lucky. He had thought he would only see the woman of his dreams again in his actual dreams. Last night, though, he woke to find that woman with her head on his shoulder and her feet entwined with his. That had never happened before. She woke too, and what followed was a make-out session over twice as long as he ever remembered. After a long while, she spooned him behind her back, and the two of them drifted off to what must have been real sleep. None of it was a dream.

Chuck heard a light tap on the window and saw Sarah smile and wave to him as she headed out to her car. He quickly gathered his stuff for a fast shower because he didn't want to be away from her for long, especially considering the little time she was back.

A couple minutes later, Chuck stood under the shower head and heard the door of the stall open and shut. Right after, two arms reached around him, and he felt a naked woman pressed to his backside. When Chuck's brain rebooted, he turned around to look at the wonderful surprise. A blonde, leggy Valkyrie had joined him. He thought maybe the shower wouldn't be quick after all.

* * *

Later, after Chuck and Sarah had dressed for the day, something that took a while with repeated interruptions of knowing smiles and other activities, Sarah settled onto Chuck's bed and motioned to an empty spot for him to join her.

Chuck claimed the spot, and Sarah took a strong grip of both hands. He spoke to her for the first time since the kitchen. "It seems like last night was not a dream, which means I'll have to go back to my previous rankings of 'best dream ever' and not put last night into the top spot. What I don't understand is why. I don't flash anymore, so I don't understand why I'm lucky enough to have you here."

"Not a dream," Sarah confirmed with a little laugh. "I'm here because I felt I needed to be here. I really missed you. I didn't realize how much. Even though we didn't get to sleep until about 3:30, which is 6:30 Eastern Time, I don't think I've ever felt so rested."

"As happy as I am that you are here, are you going to get into trouble? I'm not your asset anymore."

"You're right. You aren't. That means I can do what I always wanted. Like this."

Sarah leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. It quickly intensified with the two of them falling to lay on the bed. After a minute, Sarah rolled Chuck onto his back and pushed up to get into a sitting position. Chuck followed her to reclaim his previous spot. Both of them were still breathing heavily as Sarah said, "Before we talk more about our future, I need to know. I can tell you like having me here, but we've slept in a bed together and have showered together, but all we've done is kiss. Is there something I should know?"

"I'm normally respectful of women, even in my dreams. I've never had one in the shower with me. I didn't want to presume."

Sarah smiled and said, "You're sweet." She pressed her lips near his ear and said, "I'm here until tomorrow. Stop respecting me so much." They resumed kissing.

After another minute, they parted with Chuck, saying, "Wait. Wait. Wait. We need to talk. You didn't say if you're going to get into trouble. Are you even supposed to be here?"

Sarah scooted back a little to a 'safer' distance, maintaining Chuck's hands clasped between her own. "Officially, I don't have to report until Monday. Last Tuesday, I returned to DC after a successful mission in… that's not important. Anyway, I turned in my mission report on Wednesday, and later that day, I was contacted by a friend of mine to see if I wanted to help her with her mission in LA. She had planned reaching out to me when she heard I was stationed in this area, but delayed her mission when she discovered I had been recalled. I hate downtime between missions and part of me wanted to be near you, so I jumped at the chance to join her. Most agents frequently ignore the HR downtime guidelines, but I've never followed them. After Carina and I broke-in last night and acquired her mission's objective, I realized I didn't have to be back until Sunday. I ended up here."

"What's this mean for us, now that I don't have the Intersect?"

* * *

_**Two weeks earlier**_

Chuck knocked on the green door to Sarah's long-stay hotel room. Quickly, almost as if she was waiting for him, Sarah opened the door.

"Chuck, thanks for coming." She pulled him into the room for a full body hug. Chuck was just starting to hug back when she released the hug and shut the door. Chuck noticed all signs of personal effects were gone from the room. A single suitcase stood next to the bed.

Chuck didn't know what to do next, but Sarah saved him by speaking again. "I have to go soon, but I'm so happy I got to see you again before I have to leave." She smiled and gave him another strong hug.

Despite having a gorgeous woman in his arms, Chuck was not feeling upbeat. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't put on those stupid sunglasses that I found on my desk—"

"Chuck. Stop. We've gone over this. They scanned the glasses and found a single partial fingerprint that wasn't yours. It was a match for the designer of most of the parts of the Intersect, Orion. Our best agents haven't been able to find him for almost a decade. He somehow figured out you had the Intersect and decided to suppress it so you can no longer flash. You didn't choose that, just like you didn't choose to download the Intersect to begin with. Casey's surveillance showed a black-out when the glasses were dropped off in your room, and while that doesn't help us track down Orion, that's another sign it was him because the general consensus is only he could find out you had the Intersect and could also hide his tracks so well, circumventing Casey's surveillance system to drop-off the glasses.

Chuck still looked upset, so she continued. "He just seems to want to be left alone. Nothing bad happened to you. You wanted to get the Intersect out of your head. We're not sure if that's technically possible, but suppressing the Intersect is the next best thing, and he did that. Without a new Intersect being built, we don't have the capability to reactivate the one in your brain."

She ran her fingers through his curly hair and said, "This mission has been the best of my career. I was ordered to spend my time with a really great guy, and we even got to occasionally kiss for cover." Chuck blushed a little. "I only saw this mission ending one of three ways: You no longer had access to Intersect intelligence so I was reassigned, you were put in a secure, underground facility, or something bad happened to one of us. I never saw another option. I'm disappointed I don't get to stay near you, but I'm really happy for you that you got out of this mess."

Chuck still was a loss for words as his heart was breaking. He had never wished he could flash. Flashing again would be worth it if Sarah could stay with him.

Sarah gave him a full kiss that lasted a few seconds. He was too shocked to fully take part. After it was over, Chuck noted that there was no one else around. That wasn't a cover kiss. She wiped a tear from her eye, took a step back, and grabbed her suitcase. As she was exiting out the door, Chuck thought he heard, "I'll miss you."

* * *

_**Back in Chuck's bedroom  
**_

Sarah said, "Now that you don't have flashes, I'm officially not your handler. I'd like us to be boyfriend and girlfriend _without_ a cover. I shouldn't have come back this time, but that didn't stop me. I don't even know when I can come back."

"It doesn't matter," Chuck quickly said.

"But you might meet someone who fits better into your life and isn't going to be halfway around the world it two days."

"Any time with this mythical woman couldn't possibly be better than a few minutes with you."

Sarah's smile was so bright Chuck almost needed normal sunglasses not loaded with Intersect programming. She said, "Seriously, I don't know when I'll be back. Officially, the CIA doesn't even know I'm here. Director Graham doesn't care when I go on new missions during by designated downtime. When I don't ask him for a new mission early, something which happens maybe once a year, he knows I'm probably working with Carina. The two of us used to be on a cross-agency team together and trust each other. If Graham checked on Carina's mission, he'd see it was in LA, so he'd easily figure out I was here."

"Director Graham?"

"He's not director of the whole CIA. That's a political appointment. He the Director of Special Operations and my boss," Sarah explained

"You work for the director of all special ops in the CIA." Chuck was impressed.

"When on a mission, I report to whomever is in charge of that operation, but otherwise, Graham is my boss. He recruited me when I was in high school, so he's been more directly involved with my career than most agents. When I was your handler, he was the only person with clearance to know why I was really here, so he was my mission supervisor as well as by regular boss."

"Wow."

"It's no big deal."

"Maybe to you."

"It does make this a little tricky for us. He puts up with a lot from me, but he knows I always follow the protocols he has to enforce and get results. Agents aren't forbidden to have relationships with civilians, but it's generally discouraged. The civilian has to pass an extremely invasive background check, although you've already had one that makes that check look like nothing. Graham won't want me to be distracted from my job, and I don't want you to be pulled back into the spy-world. I'm almost certain he'll be ok with us. I could see you between missions, as long as he's happy with the results that he keeps seeing. It's just not fair to you."

"You keep saying that, and I disagree. Why do you think it's not fair?"

"I'm disappearing tomorrow, and you won't know where I'll be or when I'll be back. I've heard long distance relationships are hard and military couples are strained during a deployment, but this is worse. I won't be able to do things like securely video chat with you while I'm on a mission. You should be able to have a normal life without me in it. After feeling so good this morning from just one night at your side, I'm being selfish and would like more."

"Then call me selfish too. If the only way I can be in your life is this way, I'll take it. Who needs normal? You want to be here when you can. I want to be with you whenever possible. We'll take whatever we can get."

Chuck had never seen Sarah look so happy. She positively glowed. She gave Chuck a quick kiss and then quickly stood up off the bed. "We need to get out of this room soon, or we'll still be here when it's dinnertime." Sarah pulled Chuck down the hall.

* * *

_**The day after Ellie's discovery**_

Chuck woke Sunday morning to find himself alone in bed. He and Sarah had stayed up until almost 3 o'clock, and she caught an early plane in the morning. He knew he should be tired, but he somehow felt more refreshed, lighter.

He turned and saw two notes on the other pillow which Sarah never used. The first simply said, "I'll miss you." The last time she said that, it worked out pretty well. The second was a reminder: "Buy more condoms."

* * *

A/N: What if Stephen Bartowski did something about his son having the Intersect as soon as he could get the suppressor device from his place? Chuck and Sarah wouldn't get to be stay a cover couple, but they also wouldn't have asset/handler restrictions.

This works as a one-shot, but enjoy the rest if you want.

Obscure nerdism explanation for the chapter title: _Balance Point_ is the name of the New Jedi Order novel that was published the year after Chewbacca's last appearance in _Vector Prime._ (It was the next hardback in the series, after four intervening paperbacks.) This story begins after Sarah mission to help Carina get the diamond from Señor Wookiee.


	2. Better Than a Gold Bikini

_Posted May 29, 2019_

* * *

_**The evening after Halloween**_

* * *

Ellie leaned back on Devon on the sofa as they waited for the movie to start. Chuck sat in a chair to their right, seemingly content. The evening had been sort of a low-keyed celebration. Ellie wanted to shout it running down the street. Her brother was named assistant manager! He had strongly insisted on no big party. He wouldn't even pick out a movie for the night. She half-expected a movie with spaceships or hobbits. She'd even welcome one. He deserved it for reaching for something more and getting it. Instead, he said that he'd save those for some movie night with Morgan and that the heroic doctors should pick.

Chuck had been a changed man recently—ever since Sarah's surprise visit. Ellie didn't know exactly why it was different than when she left the first time, but Chuck was more focused with an upbeat mood that wouldn't be stopped. He fluctuated between happy and almost driven—at least as driven as one could be having been kicked out of college and with a job at a discount electronic store. Before Sarah's unexpected return, Chuck had practically backed out of the competition for the assistant manager position just by apathy. After Sarah, he had a new bounce in his step.

When Chuck came home with the good news early that day, Morgan had burst in around him to make the announcement. He was excited, even by Morgan standards. The way Chuck's friend described it, Chuck walked away with it. Even Harry Tang-loyalists were saying nice things to Chuck at the beginning of the day, before the announcement. It was a good thing Morgan's mom had dinner plans and insisted her son was there, or the little man would still be in the unoccupied chair in their room.

Ellie heard a quiet click followed by a slightly louder one at the door. Her head turned sharply to see what was going on, but she swung it the other direction as she noticed Chuck stand straight up in a bolt. Back to the door, she heard it open. She couldn't believe what she saw.

She heard "Sarah!" from her brother. The blonde woman shot across the room and left her feet, jumping into Chuck's arms, wrapping her legs around him. After a second or so of intense kissing in which Sarah looked almost like she was trying to swallow Chuck, he lost his balance backwards, and the two of them fell onto his chair.

"Awesome."

Ellie elbowed her boyfriend behind her, and Chuck and Saran worked to sit up. They continued to kiss each other in their new position. Ellie lightly cleared her throat. When it was apparent that Chuck and Sarah didn't hear her, she repeated a little louder.

The two of them separated, Sarah turning to face them while remaining on Chuck lap. Chuck's face was stuck in some sort of happy expression, and Sarah spoke, "Sorry about that. I heard what happened, and I just had to be here."

"You heard Chuck was named assistant manager?"

Sarah turned to Chuck and said, "You did? That's great." She started kissing him again.

This time, she stopped without needing an interruption. "I missed Chuck and thought the worst."

"What did you hear happen?" Ellie asked.

"I heard about the explosion yesterday at the Santa Monica Pier, where Morgan and Chuck go to the arcade. I finished work as quickly as I could and came here to see Chuck." She looked back and saw the frozen smile on Chuck face and gave have him a light slap and quick kiss to break him out of his stupor.

With Chuck still non-vocal, Ellie explained, "Chuck was at his interview for the Buy More assistant manager position. Devon and I were called into the hospital to help treat the injuries."

"I heard a lot of people were hurt, but only a couple who were closest to the initial blast died. It could have been worse if it weren't for local hospitals. That makes you two heroes." Sarah got up and came over to give both Ellie and Devon quick hugs of gratitude.

Before Ellie could react, Sarah was already back in Chuck's lap. Ellie said, "Chuck said that's why we got to pick out a movie tonight, but your being here makes this a real promotion celebration. Are you staying?"

Chuck finally spoke, a little hopeful. "Are you?"

Sarah pulled one of Chuck's hands to her mouth for a kiss before saying. "I have to be back Monday morning." It was Tuesday night. That gave them five days. "But I'm sorry. I disrupted your evening."

"Don't worry about it."

Devon repeated the sentiment, "We're happy you're here. It's awesome." After a brief moment, he said, "Uh.. Sarah, how did you get inside? The door was locked."

Sarah opened her mouth about to speak, but Chuck said to her, "You picked the lock didn't you?" To Ellie and Devon, he added, "Sarah told me that her job occasionally has these fun, employee-taught, 'self improvement' classes about all sorts of things like knitting and lock-picking. The courses are sort of a morale thing to make people like being at work more."

Sarah turned to him, then turned back and smiled. "Right. I took a lock-picking course a little while ago. They taught us how to do things like line up tumblers, and the instructor said I was a natural. I should have knocked, but I was a frantic mess and wasn't thinking clearly."

"Oh. Well, you're always welcome here. At least you weren't someone else." Ellie had been so surprised by the appearance of Chuck's girlfriend that she had missed the fact that no one let her in a locked door. That made twice that Sarah had just let herself in. It was a little weird. It was actually more surprising Sarah was there with them, not that she could get in. Mentally, she questioned where her manners were.

"Are you hungry? I already packed our leftovers into the fridge, but I can fix you something. Wait, you came from the East, so this is late for you. You probably ate on the plane."

"Actually, I didn't have an appetite. I'm starving." Sarah looked over to the kitchen and said, "I really don't want cheesy puffs, though," having spotted the sealed container on the top of the fridge, exactly where it remained from before she came back last time.

Chuck said, "We've got popcorn, Milk Duds, and a bag of Oreos."

Ellie countered, "If you'd like some _real_ food, there's some cheese sticks you could snack on in the fridge, and I'm sure I could fix you something in a couple minutes"

Ellie started to move, but Sarah beat her up and told her to stay. A couple seconds later, Sarah had the fridge door open. "Would any of you like anything?" Sarah asked. "Something to drink?"

Everyone said they were good, and Sarah asked, "May I have these vegetables?"

Ellie had peeled them for the stew she had made earlier, but there were extras. That was too much work for a guest. "Sure, you can have them, but let me help." By the time she was up and walking towards the kitchen, Sarah was quickly and efficiently dicing them on the cutting board.

Ellie slowly worked her way through the dining area, torn between feeling she should be helping and seeing all signs that her help wasn't needed. She stopped on the other side of the table as Sarah headed out of the kitchen, holding a bottle of water and a bowl filled with cherry tomatoes and carrots and celery cut into sticks.

"Thanks," Sarah said as she passed. She reclaimed her spot on Chuck's lap.

* * *

As the credits rolled, Chuck said, "If you would please excuse us, Sarah and I need to talk." He took Sarah hand and led her back to his room.

"Like they are going to be doing much talking," Devon quietly joked to Ellie.

"Gross. That's my brother."

In the privacy of Chuck's bedroom, Chuck and Sarah kissed for a minute before separating and taking safer positions, sitting on opposite sides of the bed.

"You didn't watch much of the movie, did you?" Chuck asked. "Every time I looked at you, you were looking at me, not the TV screen."

"No, I didn't see any of the movie. You were too distracting."

"I'm not objecting. I'm just saying I tried to watch the movie, despite holding a beautiful woman, because my sister was in the room."

"You were too distracting for me. Thanks for the lock-picking cover-story, by the way." She leaned in and gave Chuck a brief kiss.

"I'm stilled elated you are here, but what happened?"

"Last week, I heard about the two Chinese nationals found in Chinatown. The CIA was tasked to work with State to hand-off the bodies, but I wasn't in the country. Less than twenty-four hours ago, I was... somewhere... on a different mission. It was the second night of a five-day job to collect more information to be used for a follow-up mission. The explosion at the pier made international news as a possible terrorist attack at a tourist location. The report I saw said a lot of people were injured and didn't yet know a fatality count. I finished the assignment early and came back. This was as fast as I could get here."

"Are you going to get in trouble?"

"No. I didn't stay in within the the initial mission parameters, because they were too limiting. I accomplished the overall mission objective, or at least what would have been the objective of a follow-up mission, in a few weeks. I filed my mission report from the plane. Graham should be able to figure out there's not much point of keeping me away from you. Since I finished early, I get the extra days off, plus the time-off that I was supposed to get anyway. As I said, I can be here until Monday morning."

"Really?"

"Really."

They kissed again. This time, neither was in a hurry to stop. After a minute, Chuck broke away and said, "Oh no."

"What?" Sarah continued to hold Chuck's face her her hands, but she was concerned because he was concerned.

Chuck explained, "Technically, I have a few days off and don't have to start my new job until next week. But I still have to go in tomorrow to turn in my signed acceptance letter."

"I'll go with you, but that's tomorrow. Tonight we've got this bed."

They stopped talking.

* * *

**_The next morning_**

Devon stepped out of his apartment into the courtyard after his morning warm-up, hanging from a bar in the hallway. He was about to start a 5K jog when he stopped to a surprising sight on the ledge of the fountain. Sarah was in workout clothes, wearing a ponytail and in a handstand split. As the door shut, she sprung off with her hands into the air, landing on her feet.

"Good morning, Devon," Sarah cheerfully said. She stood on one foot and stretched her other leg straight up, standing in a one leg elevation pose.

"Good morning, Sarah," Devon replied with a little surprise. "Are you going on a morning jog too?"

"Yes. I'm just finishing stretching before I go." Sarah switched legs, stretching it to be vertical.

"I didn't know you did this—going for runs in the morning. You could join me. I can go your pace."

"I'm turning in some paperwork for Chuck. You're probably not going that way, so maybe another time."

"You're going to the Buy More? That's over fifteen miles, round-trip."

"It's about eight and a half miles each way," Sarah clarified.

"I only go 10K when I take my long circuit, which I'm not doing today. Why don't you just drive?"

"I want to get a run in too. It's not that far. I'll be back in a couple hours. This is late for me because my body is still on another time zone. I left a note for Chuck because he's sleeping in. I really should be going, though." She picked up the envelope that was sitting on the fountain's edge and waved goodbye with a little salute. She left through one arch towards Burbank, leaving Devon to stare at the opposite arch which led to the closer Elysian Park, his normal stomping grounds.

* * *

A couple hours later, Chuck and Devon sat at the dining room table. Devon was ready for work, and Chuck was finishing another bowl of fresh fruit, a good habit he had started after Sarah had come back last time. Devon had one of his special green shakes.

Earlier, Devon had told Chuck that he saw Sarah about to run all of the way to the Buy More. Chuck seemed pretty accepting about the whole thing, not thinking it was too far for her. Seventeen miles was long for anyone not training for a long distance event. It was definitely a long way for an errand.

Sarah entered through the front door, sweaty, but not out of breath.

"Sarah!"

"Chuck!"

She came straight over and gave him a kiss. After parting, she greeted Devon. Then she told Chuck, "I turned in your paperwork. I would have been back sooner, but I had a little trouble getting someone to help me. One of the green shirts collapsed right after I got there. He's fine. He said he was just light-headed. Someone brought him a Red Bull. I left the papers with Big Mike."

He thanked her and kissed her again.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said as she left with a wink.

"Dude. I even saw that."

"Excuse me, Devon. I think she might need help cleaning her back." Chuck scrambled after her.

Devon chucked, "You go get her, tiger."

* * *

A/N: There's duty. Then there's a CIA agent going where she needs to be. Sarah can do both.

About four years ago, I did actually take a lock-picking course at work. Personally, I wouldn't consider that faster than knocking, and we used much simpler locks than front door locks, but Sarah's really good at it. I know a couple people who often knit in big meetings. The company encourages it because it's supposed to be something calming for the hands to do. I did go to a weekly "fun talk" at work in which someone talked about using Inform to create Zork-like text adventure games. All of this kind of stuff is supposed to make the office a place that is considered more fun so people stay longer and work harder while they are there.


	3. Go, Bruins!

_Posted May 30, 2019_

* * *

_**A couple nights later**_

* * *

Everyone laughed at what had just happened in the couples' game as Morgan spun the wheel for his turn. Chuck's question was for his teammate to name his favorite ice cream flavor. Sarah hadn't known it was French Vanilla, but Chuck's other teammate, his "heterosexual life-partner" Morgan, not only correctly named that flavor, but he knew Chuck's preferences for the other thirty Baskin-Robbins flavors in descending order. He said he was hoping to move thirty-one free spaces on the board, but they only gave him one.

Chuck knew Morgan's hated nickname from school, something he seemed excited about being shared with everyone else in the room. Ellie and Devon got their question right, leaving the next turn for Sarah.

Sarah's question of most dangerous situation was ironic. She made up a cover story, one without gunfire. Of course, Chuck couldn't possibly guess it.

After Ellie's question about eggs, it Chuck's turn again. She managed to answer his favorite pet growing up was Peaches, though Sarah suspected Ellie was being nice to let her get one because even Chuck didn't know the first dog was hit by a car.

Sarah and Chuck's team needed all the help it could get. Morgan and Chuck's team had a solid lead. Morgan hadn't missed a single answer for his teammate's questions, even the sex questions. Ellie and Devon weren't too far behind. Sarah and Chuck's team was back near the beginning.

Chuck couldn't possibly know any of the cover stories she was making up on the fly. She only knew a few things about him, at least for the types of things the game cared about. She actually knew 'Peaches' because of an extremely deep personality profile that she developed when she was his handler, covering even his childhood. She only knew Bryce Larkin because of a conversation they had the day before. Chuck had closed his finger in a drawer and exclaimed, "I hate Bruce Larkin"—an exclamation combining a cover story and personal experience with family-friendly language. In other circumstances it might have been funny. That outburst let to a serious conversation with some actual fun activities afterwards.

In between game moves, they kept asking what Sarah's answers would have been. Surprisingly—maybe not surprisingly since Chuck always paid such close attention to her—he knew about Goldie in her apartment fishbowl. Chuck quickly changed the topic when someone mused about Sarah's most hated enemy.

Morgan spun the wheel again as Sarah's phone buzzed. Only Chuck and work had that number. Sarah silently met his eyes, confirming it was work. She should have just gotten back from a mission and shouldn't be re-tasked for a couple days, so for them to call her, something unusual had happened. She excused herself and said the others should continue without her because it might be a minute.

With Sarah out of the room, everyone ignored the game and focused on Chuck.

Ellie spoke first. "Sarah is great. The woman keeps flying across the country to be with you, and the two of you are practically hanging on each other, but what's this?" She pointed down to the board.

Morgan said, "Right. I love the fact that she insisted I still come over even though she was here. She was the first to back me on my choice of games."

Ellie interrupted, "I still say it's weird having Chuck on teams with both you and Sarah."

"Noted," Morgan said. "Yet, who is winning? I'm more surprised about how badly he and his lady are losing."

Devon chimed in, "Give them a break. Sarah hasn't known him as long as the rest of us have known each other."

Chuck said, "And Sarah doesn't like to talk about her past. We're all having fun, though, right? It doesn't matter if we win."

"Indeed," Devon agreed.

"But we're still going to win," Morgan clarified, motioning between the best friends. Pointing at Ellie and Devon, he said, "You two are going down."

Sarah returned to the edge of the room. "Chuck, we need you a minute."

"Me?" He didn't understand why he'd be needed on that call. He feared it was something related to the Intersect. He had been trying to brace himself for the news that Sarah had to suddenly leave, and he wasn't expecting to actually be invited into the call. She nodded, and Chuck dutifully stood up and followed her. He was actually surprised Morgan didn't make a cracking whip sound, but he must have seen Sarah holding the phone which probably had an open line. Cracking jokes in front of someone else's boss was not a good idea, but Morgan's discretion was 50/50.

Back in Chuck's bedroom, on his TV he saw an older black man in a suit, sitting at a desk, reading through a paper printout. The phone must have been a prop because this was a video call. Chuck had never met the man, but he figured that must be Sarah's boss. The TV screen corner said 'Mute.'

"Sarah, what's going on?"

"I don't know, Chuck. Director Graham said he'd like to talk to you as well. He said it's not about the Intersect or the two of us. Just be respectful and honest. Of course you will." She unmuted the TV with a remote. "Director Graham."

"Agent Walker," he said.

She formally introduced Chuck and Graham to each other. The director explained a CIA asset had gone missing and had contacts in the LA area so he might be near their location. The image of a dossier for the Stanford professor's appeared on the screen.

Chuck spoke up. "That's Professor Fleming. I had his course at Stanford. Professor Fleming's a spy?"

Sarah explained, "He's a CIA scientist, not a field agent."

Graham said, "We would like you to provide a friendly face when we bring him in."

Sarah cleared her voice at the word "we." Chuck turned to Sarah and said, "You know my history. Professor Fleming kicked me out of Stanford for something I didn't do. He couldn't possibly see me as a friendly face."

"I know. After what happened with Bryce blowing up a CIA lab, we concluded that he must have been trying to frame you for something he did. I agree that you shouldn't go with me out into the field. I _have_ to do this, though. He's one of us. Bryce was his contact, so now he's alone. The professor seemed genuinely frightened in the phone message he left with Bryce's service. I need to at least bring him in so we can keep him out of enemy hands."

Turning to the TV, she said, "I've got this, Director," and she shut it off.

Chuck said, "Thank you for backing me up there. I'm just worried about you doing this with no back-up."

"I'll be fine, Chuck. I don't want you back in the field." Sarah gave him a brief kiss. "It's safer for you, but this is what I do. Actually, this is a cakewalk compared to what I did to get back here."

"What—" Chuck started.

"It's no big deal, and technically you aren't cleared for recent mission details."

"That's ok. I don't want to know anyway. We have better things to do with the little time you are here. This type of thing is fine with me as long as you don't get hurt, and my knowing wouldn't prevent that. I'm just a worrier. Don't expect me to ever stop."

"You can worry. Just know that wherever I go, I'm making sure I can come back to you. I like better the things we do together that are not spy-related. The upside of this little mission during my downtime is I can leverage it to stay with you longer." Sarah smiled.

"I like the sound of that." Chuck smiled with her. "We should get back to the game before we get preoccupied. What's our cover story to everyone out there for this call?"

"It was work. That's true. My boss wanted to meet you. That's true. Because I'm going to work during my 'mandatory' off time, I get to stay here longer—probably through next week, if that's ok."

"Of course that's ok. Stay as long as you want."

"Well, a CIA officer doesn't get to choose. These 'mandatory breaks' are a company-wide suggestion that are often ignored and that I've never compiled with, but I have someplace I'd rather be now." She punctuated her statement with a kiss.

She went back to Chuck's question about their cover story. "If anyone asks what this was about, let me handle it. I can explain that I have a few 'local things' I have to do for work. That means I'll have to go out during the day tomorrow while you're at home. However, that relieves me of my work obligations so I can stay another week."

"You know, Ellie and Devon are going to start asking questions about what you really do. Morgan—not so much. He's just happy I still spend any time with him and likes that I'm his boss's boss."

"Just say you know what I do and that I can explain more if they really need to know. I'll let you know if you need to know any cover details that I tell them. I know you don't like hiding things from them, but most people can't handle the idea of a spy in their lives. Your prior involvement with the NSA and CIA is still top secret. I really don't want to be the 'spy girl' here because I love how you all treat me like I belong here."

"You _do_ belong here."

Sarah's smiled shined at the confirmation. "Let's keep it simple. I have to do some work tomorrow, and I'll be here through next week. I'll deal with any other questions as the come up."

"If you say so. I trust you." Chuck reached out to take Sarah's hand and said, "Let's go."

* * *

_**The next afternoon**_

When Sarah came home, she found Chuck alone on his bed reading a comic book—a thick one. She thought he called it a graphic novel the other day.

She let him know the news. Professor Fleming was dead. She found his body in the kitchen where he had been unpacking groceries. She interrupted the assassin searching the body and shot that man in the arm as he was escaping. When she searched Fleming's body herself, she found only a single sheet of paper with some letters and numbers. It wasn't like any CIA code that she knew. She thought maybe it was a special code that he and Bryce had used, but Chuck didn't recognize it.

As Sarah reported the Professor's death to the CIA, Ellie returned from her shift and started packing for a trip with Devon and his fraternity brothers up to Stanford for the UCLA Bruins-Stanford Cardinal football game. Earlier, Chuck had turned down an invite to the game. Ellie gave him an old university library book she had found. While looking at the spine of the book, he realized what Sarah's mystery code was.

On Saturday morning, Sarah and Chuck piled into a car to head north to Stanford. Most of the people in the caravan were UCLA alums on their way to see a football game. Most people thought Chuck and Sarah were heading to his alma mater to root for his team. Sarah and he had a different objective. Sarah just told people that the football hadn't been good at her college in "a few years" so she never went when she was a student. Chuck and Sarah knew they weren't going for the football game.

Chuck had figured out the code was a library classification code that corresponded to a hiding place Bryce used back in school to cheat when they ran through the library playing a shooting game. Sarah figured it might be a dead-drop location. She had the number so she could check herself, but Chuck insisted it'd be better cover if he went with her. There was no reason to suspect the assassin would go back to Stanford, making the mission safe enough for her to agree. Plus with four people squeezed in the back of the car, she had to sit practically on top of Chuck, changing it from a barely tolerable five and a half hour car trip to an enjoyable experience.

The library was mostly uneventful. She had reactivated Chuck's ID and a librarian confronted them about a five year-old late fine. Sarah sweetly explained that Chuck had suddenly left the university because of an unavoidable circumstance. When they found the book, they came several hundred miles to return it on the very next day. She had left the book with a different librarian at the front, which she actually had done. He was surprised by the story and also that a beautiful young woman was being so nice to him, so he just shook his head and rushed to the front to verify her story.

Chuck found an optical data disk in a drop-down slot above the Dewey Decimal code location. Back on the quad, Sarah noticed a conspicuous man dressed all in black who didn't look like he was going to the game. She managed to disable the lookout before was able to make a call. She called it in so a number in the guy's cell phone call history could be traced and the people he was working with could be captured.

The game was a blow-out, but Chuck didn't seem to need to be consoled after the UCLA win. Sarah spent the trip home typing her mission report on her phone.

Back at the apartment, Chuck went to load the disk on his computer, but Sarah said, "You shouldn't look at that."

Chuck turned his head to look at her, but a file listing appeared on the screen. Sarah glanced at it and saw "Chuck Bartowski." Chuck turned to see what she had seen to cause her to say that aloud. "Why is my name there?"

"This must be people Professor Fleming interviewed for the CIA. It's a list of people recruited to be agents."

"But I never applied to the CIA." He double-clicked it to start the video. The two watched in silence as the recording showed Bryce in Chuck's place and Bryce conspire with professor to frame Chuck for cheating to 'save' him from being recruited into the CIA.

Sarah firmly said, "Make a copy of that video, encrypt it. and store it someplace safe. I have to turn this disk into the CIA, but this is definitive proof that Bryce set you up. This shouldn't get lost." She grabbed the TV remote and punched in a code, starting a video call.

"What are you doing?" Chuck asked.

Before Sarah had the opportunity to answer, Director Graham appeared on the screen. "Sarah. Why did you call? I read your report. You can turn in the disk at the dead-drop location you used when you worked in Burbank a month ago."

"I watched it," Sarah told him. She didn't sound happy.

"What did you find? The intel wasn't compromised. Is there something that needs an immediate response?"

"It's a list of agents being interviewed for recruitment into the CIA. If an enemy agency got this, it would have compromised their identities. Chuck was on it even though he never interviewed. _The name of the eventual human Intersect_ was on the disk. Not only that, but the video showed that Bryce Larkin showed up for the interview. He and Professor Fleming conspired to frame Chuck for cheating, an action that got Chuck kicked out of school and destroyed his life for the next five years. Chuck didn't deserve that." She nodded to Chuck direction at the end, where he was still sitting off-screen.

"Sarah is Chuck there in the room with you?"

She pulled Chuck up to stand at her side in front of the TV. "Yes, he is. He's seen the video, too. We looked when we thought it was just a risk to his security. Even if enemy agencies didn't know he had the Intersect, his name on the list could have made him a target as a suspected CIA agent or someone with unparalleled subliminal image retention capability."

Sarah continued in a no-nonsense tone. "You'll see the evidence. It's unassailable. Larkin was already an agent. Fleming was working for the CIA. Two agency employees conspired to ruin the life of a loyal American who was still in college, an action which later put national secrets at risk. While part of me agrees with part of Larkin's stated concern about Chuck's safety, the severity of his actions over-reached to the point of being malicious. That isn't surprising coming from someone who a few years later blew up a government lab. Chuck has proven he can do amazing things when working with the CIA. We wouldn't have found this potential leak without him. I consider the fact that Larkin and Fleming hid Chuck's exemplary qualifications from the CIA to be treasonous. I know exactly what happened should remain classified, but the CIA needs to fix this. The CIA needs to show a man who has helped capture a traitor working with North Korea, an elusive arms dealer, and a rogue Icelandic spy that it doesn't work against the people it's supposed to protect. We can remedy the situation without comprising any secrets."

Graham sighed and said, "I can tell you are very determined about this. I'll review the evidence, and with it confirming what you just said, we'll get this fixed without any signals pointing to Chuck."

Sarah wasn't satisfied with just that concession. "Also, since I completed this mission during my designed downtime, I'm staying out here next week. I'll report to work a week from Monday."

"Understood," Graham said before he turned off the call and the screen went blank.

Neither Chuck nor Sarah said anything for a few seconds. Chuck didn't look happy to Sarah, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

Chuck's face unfroze, and he smiled at her. "That was kind of hot. You practically dressed-down a CIA director." He leaned in for a kiss, but Sarah stopped him with a solid hand to his chest.

"The Agency screwed up. They need to fix it, and they're doing it."

The last time Chuck saw Sarah so mad, she had just yelled at him after landing a helicopter. He did care, smiled, and said, "It also sounded like you are staying another week."

Sarah shyly smiled and said, "I am. While a Stanford degree doesn't matter for your new job, the CIA should at least get your expulsion removed from your records. That can be hacked easily enough."

"Really?"

"Really. Bryce Larkin did only one good thing. He did something that led me to you."

She fell back to the bed, pulling Chuck with her. They had more than a week of that coming. She never remember looking forward to time away from work so much.

* * *

A/N: UCLA won without even needing Stanford's band to take the field during the game.

In reality, Stanford (coached by Jim Harbaugh) didn't play UCLA in 2007. Stanford didn't qualify for a bowl game, but beat USC in the second biggest point-spread upsets in history. In the Las Vegas Bowl, UCLA lost to the BYU _Cougars_.

If Chuck just stayed in the car, or wasn't there to begin with, then Professor Fleming wouldn't have pulled out a code as he was dying, which made it easy for an enemy agent from Iceland to find it and realize it's importance.

"Don't Look Back With Anger" by Oasis was Chuck's song in Chuck vs the Alma Mater, not Sarah's. This Sarah is a little angry on behalf of her boyfriend.


	4. Club Sandwich

_Posted May 31, 2019_

* * *

_**A week after the following Monday**_

* * *

"Since you're off work today, and Chuck is at the Buy More, how about we go out for lunch?" Sarah asked Ellie. "I know a place with a great outdoor seating area." She tried to sound upbeat about the idea of the two of them going out and enjoying the weather.

In actuality, she needed to get ahead of any problems. As Chuck said, his world and her spy world had collided with Ellie ending up in the hospital because she was poisoned. Sarah never talked about what she did for a living. She was in Echo Park for a while, but didn't say how long. Sarah originally was supposed to fly out yesterday. The other woman had to have some suspicions.

"Nice car," Ellie said with a laugh as the two women got into Sarah's Porsche to head to lunch.

The previous night, Sarah had concluded that the two women in the world who cared the most about Chuck needed to clear the air, at least a little. Ellie had to be concerned something was off. The truth was Ellie would be dead if it weren't for the heroic actions of her brother giving her the antidote before Sarah and Chuck could track down the poisoner and get more. Two nights ago, she had yelled at him for not saving himself first, but she was also a little proud of him. That wasn't a big secret, considering how she rewarded him later that night.

Ellie was feeling better and heading back to work tomorrow, unaware of what had happened to her. After she recovered, she saw the initial blood report that revealed poison. Sarah had the post-recovery report altered to hide the presence of the antidote that had countered the poison. Ellie thought that her body somehow absorbed part of the poison that had killed the man they had encountered outside the restaurant the other night and that her body naturally got rid of it. She never discovered she had been poisoned intentionally.

The evening when she first started suffering from the truth serum/poison cocktail, Ellie had burst into Chuck's room, saying a lot of strange things. Fortunately, Chuck and Sarah had been in the middle of a bit of a disagreement and weren't involved in something else.

Chuck had told Sarah he thought a customer at work was hitting on him, or at least Morgan had told him that had happened. Chuck hadn't noticed, but he wanted to reassure Sarah that he only had eyes for her. While Sarah could understand another woman being interested in him, she didn't understand why the assistant manager was helping someone at the Nerd Herd desk. He said that he was responding to the woman's freak-out about a broken phone. Sarah had seen first-hand how Chuck could be the personal technology hero to people, like a dad who forgot a digital tape or her with her own broken phone. Now she had to worry defending her territory from what happened whenever he saved some damsel in distress because he was such a nice guy.

She loved that he helped people. It was big part of why she initially fell for him back when she shouldn't have. She had this little worry in the back of her head that someone local would see what she saw and set sights on her man. Chuck would likely to be too friendly, not realizing the woman's intentions. That was a complication they didn't need.

The night in which Ellie had suffered the effects of truth serum, she had revealed a lot of her inner thoughts without being asked. Some of the stuff she said about her brother growing up were embarrassing to him, but kind of cute in Sarah's opinion. Then Ellie expressed a worry about what Sarah really did for a living. The Wienerlicious cover was gone. If anything, it made any new cover more difficult because it'd have to explain what Sarah did that let her work there for a few weeks, pulled her away, but let her return every so often. Sarah had stayed much longer this time. She knew that had to be explained too, but Sarah didn't want to be away from Chuck unless she was really needed.

It felt like there was more of a need to have some details in a cover story. A couple months before, Ellie and Devon had been cleared for partial information about Chuck's involvement with the CIA. That didn't mean they should know nor should have to handle the burden of knowing any of the truth.

Sarah parked her car, and they ordered their lunch in the pleasant outdoor café.

Ellie started, "Sarah, I've loved having you back in LA. I haven't seen Chuck so happy since before Dad left. However, I have some questions."

"I thought you might. That's one of the reasons I thought we should have lunch."

Ellie let out a single laugh. "Of course that's why we're here. You always do things to make people's lives easier, so we're talking before I insised we go someplace and talk. When I found that full refrigerator after you left that second time, Chuck told me you got groceries. You didn't have to do that."

Sarah shrugged. "I don't really go to the grocery store much, so I ordered through a service. Chuck made sure everything was the right place."

"Well, thank you. Whenever you stay with Chuck, you're welcome to make yourself at home. The fact that you are pulling your own weight is unnecessary, but wonderful."

"You want to know how long I'm staying this time," Sarah prompted.

"In a way. I know you were originally going to leave yesterday, but you're still here. This seems a little nosy, but at this point, I have to know. What do you do? You worked at a fast food restaurant for about a month. Then you returned to some mysterious job on the East Coast in which you can't communicate with Chuck but get these long breaks to see him again. It pays enough that you keep that car in California even though you don't live here."

Sarah took a bite as a bit of a delaying tactic so she could start this part of the conversation carefully. "It's kind of hard to explain. What do you think I do?"

"I really have no idea. Back when you were first dating Chuck, I thought you were trying to break into show-business. A lot of people work food service jobs when they're trying to get their break as an actor. You obviously didn't _need_ that kind of job since you drive a Porsche, but you look like you could do something like that. You stand out, and that saying something here in Southern California. Aspiring actress makes more sense than the absurd idea I once heard of you being a prostitute who drives a Porsche and, no offense, burns hot dogs."

The night-walker theory surprised Sarah. She was glad that Ellie had already dismissed it. Struggling actress made more sense as a cover before, but she didn't see how it could hold up now. Sarah laughed and said, "No, I've never had sex for my job."

Ellie continued, "Of course you haven't. You obviously didn't need the money, and trying to get acting jobs doesn't really make sense with your absences and surprise returns. When Chuck is not around, Devon and I have only seen you going on runs and staying in Chuck's room. Part of me tells myself it's none of my business, but Chuck was devastated when you left. Protecting Chuck _is_ my business, so I need to know you are not doing something like breaking the law or breaking his heart."

Sarah said, "Thank you for looking after Chuck when I'm not here. It's nice knowing he has people who love him that watch out for him when I'm not around. I know how you caught him after Stanford. I also know you barely tolerate Morgan but do because you know that friend's loyalty has been immensely valuable to Chuck. And no, the government will not come after me for what I do."

Ellie laughed and said, "You're not in the mob. Good to know." She was dismissing another crazy theory Sarah could tell Ellie never believed herself. "You live in DC. Why are you here?"

"You heard about my ex?" Sarah said and Ellie nodded. "When I first came to LA, I met Chuck at the Buy More and fell for him immediately. After our first date, I got a job at the Wienerlicious to stay close to him. Admittedly, it was not the best choice for a place for me to work. Circumstances changed at my old job. Part of the reason I came out here was because of my ex, and he's out of the picture. I have obligations, so I had to go back. I talked about it with Chuck, and he agreed."

"So you broke up?"

"That didn't work for either of us. At the time, I felt that a clean break was the best thing for both of us."

"It wasn't the best for him. Chuck was a complete mess."

"I've heard. I wasn't much better, which is part of why I came back."

"Yet, you left again, this time without breaking up, so Chuck remained happier. Now you are back again and have stayed past when you first said you had to leave again. I don't understand what is so important that you have to keep leaving. If the job is so bad, why don't you quit? If you need to keep the job, how are you still here?"

"It's kind of hard to explain. I can't quit, but the job does provide some flexibility. My boss understands why I'm here, and Chuck even met him on that video call last week. My boss is working with me to accommodate the situation. I've done a little work remotely over the past week or so, and as a result, I have permission to stay here through Thanksgiving weekend, if that's ok with you."

"You'll be here next week for Thanksgiving? That's great! Of course you can be there! Chuck will be so thrilled." She tapered her excitement with a confused wrinkle of her brow. "That shoots a hole in one of my theories. I thought maybe your family had money so you kept going home out of family obligation. However, you want to spend Thanksgiving with us, not them."

"There's no place I'd rather be. The money isn't mine, but I have access to it through work. I bought the car with my personal savings. I work there partially because of a family situation, but I don't see my dad much." She didn't comment about her mom. Even Graham at the CIA didn't know about her.

"Well, we're glad to have you. What do you do there?"

"As I said, it's hard to explain. It's easiest to think of it as I do whatever needs to be done. It's private, though. Chuck just has a general idea, more than is generally shared with anyone else. He understands, but doesn't know the details."

"Could you tell me a non-secret example, or maybe tell me what you were trained for. Where did you go to school?" Interpreting Sarah's solemn face, she added, "Is it a regional university I haven't heard of or something? I'm not sure you even went to college, even though you are clearly smart."

That was a little embarrassing—not because of the quality of the education. Sarah wasn't used to sharing things about her past. It was usually better for an undercover agent to not divulge something like that, but she wasn't undercover here. People tended to have certain assumptions about what people who went to that university went on to do. They might not expect something specific, but great things were expected. This wasn't one of those things that needed to remain a secret. The school could even add some mystery to what she did after she graduated. She started, "I'm sure you've heard of it. Chuck doesn't even know. He hasn't asked, but I'll tell him tonight."

Ellie waved that off, "Chuck went to Stanford on a scholarship. He might not have a degree, but that's not because of something he did. It means he doesn't put a lot of weight into anyone's college experience. Where did you go? I won't judge."

Sarah quietly said, "Harvard."

She was definitely going to need to talk to Chuck tonight. Before, she didn't want him to think she was rubbing it in when he didn't graduate. Now they knew her traitorous partner had set up an excellent student who had almost earned his degree—despite calling him a friend. Sarah's college education was a little non-standard because she was recruited into the CIA before she graduated from high school. Between quarters, she spent time at the Farm and even did a couple trainee missions during her later years. That wasn't a standard extra-curricular activity for Harvard students.

"I'm sorry did you say 'Harvard?' Like the Ivy League school in Massachusetts?"

"Yes."

"Whoa. That's not what I was expecting. If you have a degree from Harvard you could easily get a good job anywhere, for example here in LA."

"I don't really use my degree, though." She worked internationally as a CIA agent, but her idea of relations usually involved fists, knives, and guns. That wasn't something taught at university for a degree in international relations. "I worked for my company in my free-time while I was going to college. We're international, so I do occasionally get to use some of the languages I learned in school when meeting with foreign diplomats."

Ellie held up her hand while she finished chewing and put down her fork. "Languages? What do know?"

Sarah saw Ellie had switched from concerned sister to impressed friend. She said a little shyly, "I'm conversant in a few and can read a few more."

"A _few_? Everyone in LA knows a little Spanish, and I learned a lot of Latin when in medical school. You probably know some obscure language almost nobody speaks."

That would depended on what Ellie would consider 'nobody.' Nobody around LA, sure. But she could talk with several hundred million people in a few different parts of Asia and several million others in various countries in Europe. She wasn't fluent everywhere, but she learned three in school, and the CIA had certified her for half a dozen more on missions and for reading intel.

Sarah tried downplaying the truth. "As I said, I use them for work occasionally. My job isn't just talking with foreign diplomats at parties, though. It's more complicated than that. I'm a valued member of the business." Like when she helped Carina in Pakistan. Her reckless friend needed another agent as back-up. "My circumstances are complicated so that I need to keep doing it, despite wanting to stay here." Her dad was up for parole next year, and she'd wanted to try to make this work with Chuck anyway. That was more likely if she didn't quit. "It's fortunate that I've been able to stay so long this time."

Ellie said, "I still don't understand. I'm just worried about the next time you have to leave and how it will affect Chuck." The concerned sister was back. "You really helped his confidence the first time you were here. When you left after that first time, it was almost as bad as after Stanford. I even enlisted Morgan to help, which is a sign I was completely desperate. Then you came back, and my brother has been better ever since. He even stayed in great spirits when you left the second time. Part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Ellie, thank you for caring about Chuck so much. It's nice knowing someone is looking out for his heart when I'm not here. Chuck knows a little bit more about my job. He understands why I can't just quit, and he knows I want to be here. He doesn't know the details of what I do, but he doesn't want to. Trust him to look out for what is good for him. I do."

Ellie considered her for a moment, then said, "Fine. You're a friend. You're what's best for Chuck, and I believe you have his best interests in mind. For now, that's enough. If Chuck starts wallowing again because of this...thing, we'll talk again." She punctuated by pointing her finger.

Sarah thought it was sort of ironic that Ellie had threaten a CIA agent, but Sarah really cared that Ellie be ok with whatever it was that she and Chuck were doing. It seemed like it was fine for now. Sarah didn't really understand it herself. She just knew she felt safer...better...with Chuck than she had ever felt before, so she was going to find ways to make it work for the two of them.

Sarah said, "I'm fine with that. If Chuck's not good, I'm not good."

* * *

Back at the apartment, Ellie resumed reading a medical journal on the sofa, and Sarah went back to Chuck's room where Chuck had helped her set-up a secure, untraceable connection to the CIA network. She was officially on downtime, but she wanted to at least read the updated daily threat assessments that were circulated to all agents. Ellie left for a post-hospital stay check-up late in the afternoon and was gone when Chuck returned from work.

As Chuck was unlocking the front door, Sarah quietly stepped out of the window and leaped onto Chuck from behind. He yelped in surprised and turned around, the weight causing him to fall backwards into the living room through the front door. A few minutes later, Sarah helped Chuck back up from where they had started making out on the sofa.

"Did you have a good day at work?" Sarah casually asked as she tried to straighten her lipstick.

"Yes I did. While this 'welcome home' startled me, forcing me to let out one of my girlish screams, I do like that kind of surprise. I talked to Ellie on the phone on the way here. She said you two had a great time at lunch."

"Right. That. We had a good talk, and we didn't _just_ talk about you."

"What do I need to know for the cover?" Chuck asked, cutting to the crux of the conversation.

"I didn't have to make up any cover-details. I didn't tell her I'm a spy, of course, but I confirmed other true information that makes her think I have a secretive job out east that I need to do because of family obligations and I don't see my family much. All true. I'm sure it still doesn't make a lot of sense to her, but she understands it's unique and seems to be taking a lot of it on faith because she can tell how we feel about each other and wants the best for you."

"Did you say it was complicated?"

"I might have said that. I also told her where I went to college."

"Ooo, I don't know that," Chuck said.

"You should. Ellie knows I don't like talking about my past, but I told her I'd tell you tonight."

"Where did you say you went?"

"I told her where I _actually_ got my degree. It's not that big of deal. It's not like a I got a B.A in being a spy when I went to Harvard. I didn't tell her my concentration was international relations. I mentioned that I studied languages, but I didn't say which ones."

"Harvard?"

"I learned more during my breaks from classes at the Farm than I learned at school."

"Well, you're really smart." While Chuck was initially surprised, he seemed to take the news in stride. "At least I know something real about you." He pecked her on the lips and went to get a beverage from the fridge.

"I know it's not _Stanford_." Stanford still a touchy subject for Chuck. Fixing Chuck's records wasn't considered urgent compared to national security, but by later in the week, his records were supposed to be have him in good standing again. Then it was a matter of what Chuck wanted to do next. It might be noticed if someone who was not enrolled got a degree when it wasn't even graduation time. That could be addressed later—not that Sarah really cared.

"Harvard is a good school, too," he solemnly said.

Harvard is just a "good school?" She could tell Chuck was thinking about something else.

It was time to stop talking about school. Sarah said, "Also, it's official. I got the thing with Ellie over the last few days classified as a mission. That means I get more of that HR-mandated downtime, so I'm here though Thanksgiving weekend."

That perked Chuck up. "Really? The world won't fall apart without you dropping in and saving the day?"

"No, the world will be fine without me. National security issues keep coming up here in LA. I'm both where I want be and where they need me. I'm going to have to leave someday, but that's later. Until then, we can enjoy this."

She put both of her arms over Chuck's shoulders, and they didn't move away from each other for a while.

* * *

A/N: This time, when Sarah and Ellie went out for lunch, Sarah didn't take a gun.

Why Harvard? NBC's website originally said Sarah was recruited out of Harvard. Sure, that doesn't mesh with the last flashback in Chuck vs the Cougars, but that website was from season 1. Last chapter, when Sarah said her school's football team hadn't been good in a while, she meant a _long_ while. Even though the Crimson football team has won twelve national championships, they haven't won one in 99 years. They tied Princeton in 1920, so both teams remained undefeated and shared the title.

In college, some people go to house parties and play beer pong. Some people play video games. Chuck _programmed_ a video game. Sarah learned a couple martial arts and spent a lot of time at the shooting range.


	5. Turkey and Muenster Cheese on Egg Bread

_Posted June 1, 2019_

* * *

_**The fourth Wednesday of November**_

* * *

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Chuck asked Sarah.

"We are eating here, Chuck." Sarah's tone was one that clearly expected no argument. Chuck didn't remember ever before her being so opinionated about their choice of restaurant. She wanted to get a deli sandwich for lunch.

Two days ago, Morgan and Chuck had continued their long-running debate about what sandwich would be best on a deserted island. Sarah had begged off the question. She had practically encouraged Chuck to keep having movie and gaming nights with his best friend, but he wasn't going to push it. Morgan thought sandwiches weren't her thing, something he later privately confided to Chuck that he was a little concerned about. Chuck wasn't worried what Sarah's opinion was on that particular question. On a mission somewhere around the world, she probably was forced to eat with only less than desirable choices available, so he wasn't about to press the issue. Her selection of Lou's, though, meant she liked sandwiches after all. Alternatively, it maybe meant she wanted to be at this particular restaurant for some other specific reason. It could be both.

They took a number and claimed a seat. The wait wasn't long, so Chuck figured he had only a couple minutes before it was their turn for him to call Sarah on what she was doing.

It all started earlier when Chuck returned a repaired phone to Lou, the deli place's owner. Lou told him she had named a sandwich after him as a thank you. It wasn't that big of a deal compared to preventing bombs from exploding, but in his opinion, it was nonetheless cool.

As they were talking, Sarah showed up, seemingly out of nowhere. She was going to meet him for lunch, but that was supposed to be an hour later. She gave him a full kiss in the middle of the store, which she had to have known would greatly embarrass him because of his aversion to PDA. He introduced Lou, who had been standing right there during the spectacle. Sarah called herself his girlfriend when introducing herself back to Lou. Sarah casually said she was talking her Porsche in for an oil change and just had to see him beforehand, not mentioning that she was to see him again in an hour. Lou made some comment about getting "The Chuck" sandwich fresh, in person. Chuck wasn't sure what that was about, but Lou didn't seem happy when she left the store, a big change from her initially being thrilled that her phone was working again.

Over the next hour, he heard many coworkers walk by making screeching cat sound effects. He didn't understand why until Morgan said something to him after the first few. His friend said he didn't think it would be a fair cat-fight because of Sarah's height advantage, not that he would ever root against his "best friend's woman." Little did everyone know such a hypothetical fight would be more lopsided than they would ever imagine, as recently demonstrated on the roof of the Wienerlicious by Sarah taking out a knife-wielding arms smuggler.

Their number was called before Chuck had figured out how to tell his super-spy girlfriend that she was being petty and had nothing to worry about.

"Chuck! And Sarah," Lou said. She started cheerfully but ended up sounding a little forced when she said that. "I didn't know you would be by so fast. Both of you."

Sarah didn't hesitate saying, "I'll take one Chuck, please. The sandwich, of course. I've got my Chuck right here." She wrapped her hands around the arm hanging at Chuck's side, and she playfully bumped their hips. "Chuck is probably too shy to admit it, but he'd like a Chuck sandwich, too, so two Chucks please. And two waters."

"Sure. Two sandwiches coming right up. It's probably a good thing you came this week. I think I'll have to rename it on the menu next week. We try a lot of potential sandwich names before settling on more permanent ones. Why don't you have a seat, and I'll bring them out?" She indicated a table by a bulletin board filled with flyers.

At the table, Chuck decided he had put it off long enough. "I know what you're doing. Everyone who works at the Buy More knew what you're doing. I had to listen to an hour of not-so-subtle angry meow sounds from a good potion of the Buy More staff, well except for Jeff who made this purring sound and licked his hand. I don't know want to know what that was."

"What were the cat sounds about?"

"Of course you've never had to deal with this, but that's an immature response to someone being 'catty.' Everyone who knows better would stay clear of your boyfriend. You've probably never had a real relationship threatened with a potential, but not remotely possible, alternate suitor."

"I still don't understand the big deal. I didn't realize I'm not supposed to do something like that. I thought I was just making my position clear as your girlfriend without using a knife. I haven't had a serious relationship before. I moved around a lot growing up and went straight into my job after that. Bryce was the first person you could call my boyfriend because we worked together on a few missions in a row, but it was never like that for us. We were partners that were together a lot and had breaks from work at the same time. His attitude was more focused on himself than us. You're the first person that has made me feel the way you make me feel." She pulled up their hands that were folded together on the table and kissed them. "I wanted her to understand that you are completely off-the-market for the next time I'm not around. If I overdid it, I'm sorry. That's one of the things I need you for: to teach me how to do all of this stuff like a normal person."

Chuck laughed and kissed her back through their joined hands. "Well with me, you don't have to 'mark your territory.' I'm all yours."

They were gazing in each other's eyes when Lou interrupted them with their food. "Two Chucks. I hope you like them. I'm sorry if I misunderstood earlier, but I see now you two are together…" She trailed off at the end.

Sarah followed Lou's gaze and saw the deli owner tear a flyer off the bulletin board. Lou wasn't happy. Sarah asked, "What's Club Aeries?"

"It's nothing. Just a place my ex-boyfriend owns. Don't worry about it. Enjoy your sandwiches." She left to return to work behind the counter.

They both thoroughly enjoyed their meals. Sarah said it was a thousand times better than the Wienerlicious. She didn't like going back there and even eating outside because the smell inside when they ordered their food bothered her. Chuck said he thought they were lucky the sandwiches were prepared in front of everyone, so no one would spit into it.

* * *

As they were parting by Sarah's car, Chuck asked Sarah were she was going, whether she had another errand to run or was going to the apartment. He was just being friendly. It really didn't matter to him. He figured she'd work on the computer again while he finished his shift. When she was a little evasive and didn't say right away say what she was going to do, he knew something was up. Sarah pointed across the parking lot where Lou was getting in her car to leave in the middle of the day, during the tail end of the lunch rush.

Chuck said, "You're following her? You don't need to do that. I told you she's not a threat to you. No one in the entire world is."

"That's not it. Call it my 'spy sense.' Something was off about how she reacted to that flyer. My actions might be extreme, but I can read people. She was interested in you because she wasn't sure you were completely off the market. She knows better now. Her reaction to her ex-boyfriends flyer meant he's bad news. She put it up to begin with, but something about it bothered her immensely. Now she's leaving her business when they are still busy."

Chuck couldn't hold it in, "You have 'spy-dy' sense. Sorry. Continue."

"She works near you. If there's a problem, it could affect everyone in the plaza. I need to follow her and make sure. This isn't another case of me doing more than what I need to do in our relationship. This about me doing my job. If everything is kosher, no one will know I'm there. You need to trust me."

"Fine. I'm going too." Chuck walked to the passenger side of the car and got in.

"Chuck," Sarah protested.

"Come on. She's going. We need to go right now, or we'll lose her. I trust that you're doing the right thing, but you might need me to clarify what this means for our relationship. I should also go. I'll text Big Mike and let him know something came up so I'll be out this afternoon. The Buy More can survive one afternoon without me."

Sarah wasn't happy, as indicated by her slamming the door as she got in the driver's seat.

A while later, they found themselves stuffed in a trunk, being taken for questioning by a man with a gun.

Before that, Sarah had found an observation spot near where Lou met a man, exchanging cash for a crate. Sarah happened to have a various spy gear in her car, including binoculars that could take pictures and transmit them to the CIA for analysis. On her phone, she received a message ID'ing the man as Stavros Demitrios, the son of a wanted arms smuggler.

Having seen Lou give Stavros cash in an secluded place, Sarah decided she needed to get out and investigate further because she might have just bought guns. Exacerbated, Chuck followed. Under her breath, she made a comment about him never staying in the car. In the alley around the corner from where Lou had met the man, Chuck tripped over a some piled-up debris. His stumble made a loud noise that spooked Lou, so she sped off, leaving the crate.

Chuck opened the box to find tubes of various processed meats that could be used in a deli. Sarah was furious. The CIA didn't even have jurisdiction for domestic crimes. She only followed Lou because she sensed an exigent situation. While she was right on one level that a law was being broken, the CIA didn't care about meat smuggling. She was more mad because Chuck had insisted coming along and she had let him. If their relationship as a former asset and a spy was going to work, they had to stop going on missions together. This was the third in three weeks. She liked not being a spy with him, but if he kept going with her, they were going to get distracted, and he was going to get hurt.

Almost on cue, the man who Lou had met returned with a gun. On his way out, he had noticed Sarah's car, which was out of place in this part of town. He saw the binoculars sitting on the front seat, a sign that something was up. He knew someone was here that could cause major problems for him. Sarah didn't want to risk pulling a gun, but when Stavros searched her and found hers, he forced the two of them into his trunk.

As the car moved, presumably taking then to be interrogated, Sarah pulled away from Chuck as much as she could in the confined space. She wasn't about to snuggle against him in a trunk when she was still mad. Getting captured was exactly the type of thing she didn't want happening to her boyfriend.

Chuck and Sarah were tied up in chairs and surrounded by some of an armed band of smugglers, led by Stavros's father Yari. The senior Demitrios couldn't figure out how to get Chuck and Sarah to reveal who they were, showing up right as an important shipment was about to arrive. He was surprised and a bit confused because the two captives were constantly arguing with each other and not very concerned about the armed guards surrounding them. They were all interrupted because one of Yari's men came up and said a large shipment had been delivered and was about to 'expire.'

Half of the armed goons, along with Yari and and his son, left to handle the arrival. No one was watching the captives closely. Sarah worked her bindings free, quickly getting up and taking out a guard with a flying chair. Chuck cheered her on as she dispatched each of other two guards with a kick to the head. With the three men unconscious, she took two handguns and a cell phone and hurried out of the area. She told Chuck to stay close and quiet.

She called for a heavily armed tactical team, and the two of them moved through the dock complex, looking for the shipment while staying out of sight.

After a few minutes, they could hear gunfire in the distance. From a hiding place, they saw a few of the smuggling group's armed men run toward the commotion. Shortly later, Chuck and Sarah found a large, metal, cylindrical capsule that had a digital read-out on it that read zero.

Chuck said, "That looks like a really big, really scary bomb. The time ran out, and it didn't explode. It must not be a bomb."

Sarah grasped Chuck's hand to her side and looked him in the eyes. "We're still here. Together."

They stared at each other for a moment, neither caring what they had been bickering about since lunch. They stepped towards each other so hard they almost fell over as they each tried to kiss the other even harder.

After a few seconds, they separated. The gunfire sounds in the distance had died down. Sarah, flush from their aggressive kiss, quietly said, "Well the good news is we're alive. And the bad news is this is kind of an uncomfortable moment right now."

Chuck responded, "It's completely comfortable on my end. Just sayin'."

"The last shots were from weapons used by our team. Our side won. We have to get out of here before they come in on us doing more of that. It's fine with me, except I know you'd hate it. We can get back to making up in bed. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: Corollary to the evil overlord rule against monologues: Don't bother tying up your prisoners. Just shoot them. They're the good guys. They'll escape if you give them time.


	6. Sweet Potatos with Marshmallows

_Posted June 2, 2019_

A/N: I heard very recently that WillieGarvin's _Chuck vs A New Day_ happens to be in the same place in it's AU. I've never read it, but I've heard great things and will start it reading it soon. I just need to post the few more chapters left in this one.

* * *

_**The next night**_

* * *

Thanksgiving day had arrived. Sarah had never looked forward to a holiday so much in her life, well at least in around twenty years since she stopped believing in Santa Claus. At a very young age, she figured out what her dad called "the first con pulled on all kids."

The morning had been horrible. First, she found out that the traitor who used to be her boyfriend was still alive. The only upside she saw was the next time she had an impulse to shoot Bryce Larkin for what he did to Chuck, she wouldn't be shooting a corpse.

Then, Bryce insisted he'd only talk to Chuck. That fit with the prevailing theory that Bryce had emailed the Intersect to Chuck because he thought he could manipulate his old college friend to get access to the intel. Sarah didn't like her boyfriend being pulled back into the spy world again. Bryce used the morning's opportunity to take Chuck hostage and escape. Fortunately, Chuck was left behind, and Chuck and Sarah could make it to dinner while other people hunted him.

Sarah joined Ellie in the kitchen shortly to see if the chef needed help before people were coming. Ellie said she had things under control, but pulled Sarah into a huge hug. Ellie could barely contain her happiness. She was thrilled that Morgan had a girlfriend and was more thrilled that Sarah had stayed for the holiday. Apparently, she wasn't worried about what Sarah did for a living, at least that day. Chuck was happy, and as long as it stayed that way, that was the most important thing. Ellie mused that Sarah didn't have to ever leave, that she could be there for Christmas, New Year's, and even Easter, whatever month that was in 2008.

That made Sarah think again about her idea. Her lease in DC was up at the end of the year, and she had barely seen the place since she originally came to LA. Maybe she could live in Echo Park. She'd still go on missions, and she didn't want to bring her spy life to this place, but company psychologists said that between missions agents should disconnect because it prevented them from burning out. She did want to go to a lonely apartment in DC. She wanted to be with Chuck, Ellie, and Devon. She's have to talk to Chuck Friday morning. She had no doubt he'd be for all for it, but the idea needed to be safe for everyone. Chuck would agree with that. Ellie and Devon needed to agree to Sarah living in the same apartment, when they weren't on a holiday high.

At dinner, Morgan's girlfriend, Anna, was a little weird. She had brought an 'interesting' tasting green bean casserole. She seemed agitated that Morgan liked Ellie's cooking, but more so when one of the traditional dishes was missing marshmallows. It didn't make sense that she wanted Morgan to not like Ellie's food, but wanted him to eat his favorite dishes that she made.

Everything Ellie had cooked tasted wonderful to Sarah.

Casey was there, too. He had come back to LA for Bryce's interrogation. She figured he was probably a little disappointed one of the people he thought he had shot and killed was walking around. After the hostage incident, he stopped by the apartment. To the NSA, he was checking on how Chuck was doing after Bryce had injected Chuck with something that made him almost pass out. Sarah could easily keep an eye on him, so she suspected he was just checking up on her and Chuck's situation, now that they were not asset and handler. Casey told Ellie he was back from a short-term stint with the reserves, heard about Chuck getting the assistant manager job, and wanted to congratulate him. Ellie invited her former neighbor to Thanksgiving dinner.

Chuck returned from getting the marshmallows that had been left in the car. Ellie went back to the kitchen to add them to the sweet potatoes dish. Chuck silently mouthed to Sarah that Bryce was in his bedroom. The stupid fugitive had crashed a holiday dinner attended by two government agents.

Sarah excused herself to find out why her ex-partner made a stop at her holiday dinner when he should be trying to leave the country.

* * *

Chuck was happy Sarah got his message. She went back to deal with Bryce herself. Casey had a curious expression on his face, but even if Chuck wanted the NSA agent to provide back-up, they had to keep this as low-key as possible. Only the three of them knew what Sarah really did. He trusted Sarah to handle it by herself.

Ellie re-served the sweet potatoes, this time topped with partially melted marshmallows, and Morgan happily dug in. Ellie enjoyed how demonstrative Morgan was as he enjoyed the dish. Anna was completely misinterpreting the interaction, but before she reached her limit, everyone heard a bang and a crash coming from Chuck's room.

Chuck bounced up to see what the problem was. Casey said to call if he need help for anything, "like moving something big."

In Chuck's room, he saw Sarah handcuffing an unconscious Bryce Larkin to a bedpost. He asked, "What happened?"

"He made a pass, so I slugged him and kicked him in the groin. I didn't have a gun to pistol whip him, so I slammed his head down on the desk. I avoided your computer, so I didn't break it this time."

Walking up behind Chuck, Ellie innocently asked, "Is everything ok?" After not hearing a response from a shocked Chuck or Sarah and getting a better look at the scene in the room, she asked with serious concern, "What is going on!? Is that Bryce Larkin? He's supposed to be dead. Why is he handcuffed to the bed!?"

Sarah said, "Ellie, don't freak out."

Chuck failed to contain a snort.

"Chuck!" Sarah scolded.

"Sorry. I'm the one you normally need to say that too."

Before anyone tried to provide any sort of explanation for Ellie, Devon appeared behind his girlfriend and repeated Ellie's original question, "Is everything ok? Whoa, Sarah, you took out an intruder. Awesome. Where did you get the handcuffs?" Devon had never met Bryce to know that she had knocked out a man thought to be dead.

Sarah said, "Ellie, Devon, meet Bruce Larkin."

Devon said, "That's your ex?"

Ellie was barely a logical step ahead. "Bryce is Bruce?"

Sarah looked down and shook her head. "Sorry, I've head Chuck call him that in jest. It's contagious. It's not helpful at this point, though."

Sarah stood up, centered herself, and took charge. "Ellie, Devon, I _am_ going to explain this. I just need to get control of the situation, first." Pointing to Bryce she said, "Ellie, he's injured. I punched him, kicked him in the groin, and slammed his head into that desk. Please check for a concussion and treat any recent wounds you find. Any of his older wounds are from when he escaped custody this morning, so he's been sneaking around LA with them all day. You shouldn't waste time with them now. Yes, he was an escaped fugitive.

"Chuck, get Devon's climbing rope so we can tie Bryce up better. I can see at least three things in this room I'd use to get out of those cuffs. It'd take less than a minute for him to get out of them if he's conscious without anyone watching. With twenty-five meters of rope, we can make sure he goes nowhere.

"Devon, please politely ask Anna and Morgan to leave. We can try dinner again later this weekend or at least share leftovers with them tomorrow. We need to keep them out of the situation in here."

Devon started to follow instructions, but stopped and turned back to ask, "What about John?"

"Say I badly twisted my ankle and Ellie is treating my injury. Casey will drag his feet about leaving. Don't worry about it. He knows about this type of thing. I'll talk to him."

Devon nodded and complied.

Chuck returned with the rope, and Sarah got to work. Ellie cleaned up a couple of cuts and stepped out quickly, only to return with an ice pack.

They all heard people leave through the front door, and a instance later, Casey popped his head into the room. He gruffly said, "You've got to be kidding. What happened? Walker?"

"He tried to kiss me."

Ellie piped up, "He did what!?" Everyone pretty much disregarded her outburst.

Casey grunted and said, "Idiot. Maybe I should have shot him in the head, not that I'm sure there's anything up there to hit." He asked Sarah, "What do you need?"

Sarah said, "I've almost finished securing him."

Chuck inserted, "It's sort of the style used on the rebels on Endor in Return of the Jedi, but Bryce can't use the Force to trick the Ewoks into letting him go."

Sarah ignored the commentary and said, "When I'm done here, I need to call this in to at least stop the manhunt. Ellie is treating the new injuries. I'll handle the briefing to let Ellie and Devon know the truth. This most closely matches scenario three which we had discussed. I need you to follow Morgan and Anna to make sure they get home ok. We still don't know for a fact where Bryce has been the last couple of months and don't know if anyone followed him here. I can handle this place while you're gone, but we need to make sure an enemy agent doesn't do something like capture them to use as leverage. We can debrief with Director Graham and General Beckman when you get back."

"Got it." He looked over at Ellie and Devon before saying to Sarah, "Good luck. I'll be back after I know the other two are safe."

Casey quickly exited through the front door.

Bryce started to wake up, so Sarah gagged him with one of Chuck's dirty tube socks. Bryce's eyes got extra big when he noticed Ellie. Sarah said, "Yes, you tried to ruin Chuck's life twice, and now Ellie and her boyfriend are involved because you thought it would be a good idea to come here with a bunch of civilians and two government agents present, despite the government hunting you. I don't know what our superiors are going to decide to do with you. My preference involves multiple broken bones. I'm pretty sure Casey's involves a better placed bullet. We'll find out later what they decide. They seemed to want to talk to you this morning. Maybe you would have had a better chance with them before taking a hostage." She gave him a closed mouth smile as she blocked his vision with another dirty tube sock.

Devon and Ellie just stood there in shock at what Sarah was saying. Chuck sat comparatively relaxed in his computer chair.

Sarah said to him, "Please take them out to the living room. I'll be there in a minute. I have to call this in before I brief them. I want you with me when I do it."

Chuck acknowledged his girlfriend and led the other two out to the living room. Ellie and Devon stayed wide-eyed and silent.

A minute later, Sarah joined them in the other room. Ellie and Devon sat on the sofa, tightly clasping hands. Sarah squeezed between Chuck and the side of one of the chairs.

"Ellie, Devon, you've been incredibly welcoming to my presence here. I appreciate how tolerant you've been of not knowing what I really do. You've just known it's secretive, I'm not wanted by the government, quitting is not an option, and I have permission from my boss to be here. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a spy."

* * *

A/N: Uninvited guests, like Bryce, get whatever no one else wants, like Anna's green bean casserole. Or they get tied up. Invited guests have first and second dibs on the turkey.


	7. I Come in Peace

_Posted June 3, 2019_

* * *

"You're a spy? That's awesome."

Chuck agreed with Devon, "It is, isn't it?"

Sarah admonished her boyfriend with a look. "Chuck, that isn't helping. It's just who I am. These two have been cleared for limited information for a couple months under the assumption that something like this was bound to happen. They aren't to know the exact details about what you received, of course."

"Right. This is your area. No more color commentary from me, even if your awesomeness is completely true." He mimed zipping up his lips.

Sarah focused back to the two shocked doctors on the sofa. Devon had tempered his typical over-enthusiasm. Ellie was still completely frozen, so she prompted, "Ellie?"

Ellie finally spoke, rambling, "Is this a dream? Morgan would have a girlfriend in a dream. It must be a dream because Bryce is alive and you said you're a spy. You being a spy sounds like something Chuck would dream up."

Sarah calmly said, "Yes, I am a spy. I've worked for the CIA since high school. You're not dreaming."

Devon said, "I still say this is awesome. It explains a lot of things, like your car and the fact that your morning runs put mine to shame. You don't need a key. Maybe you can help me convince this woman to go skydiving. You've probably been a few times."

Ellie turned a glare to her husband and said, "No. Jumping out of an airplane to one's death is not my idea of fun."

Sarah didn't help Devon's cause either. "I agree with Ellie. I do not want Chuck jumping out of an airplane. I've only parachuted into hostile territory at night, not counting the training I had the summer after my freshman year. It's not something I do recreationally."

Ellie nodded once to Devon to emphasize that she had won that round. Sarah didn't even have to recount her experience doing a HALO jump or the time she had to cut her main shoot to close distance on a teammate to cut her tangled cord, both of them using their back-up chutes. They were enough to make the activity seem like something that should be left to the people that need to do it. Ellie's face showed her uneasiness had returned as she faced Chuck and Sarah again.

Sarah took a deep breath and continued. "Casey is a Marine Major who works for the NSA. Bryce was my partner at the CIA. A couple months ago, he went rogue and destroyed a government lab. We still don't know why. We thought he died trying to escape, but somehow he was diverted by the medical response, and he received treatment with a rogue group."

Sarah saw the doctors were still processing the story, but she continued, knowing they had to get through it. "Before he was shot, Bryce managed to send an email with government secrets to Chuck. That was the night of that birthday party you threw for him. Casey and I were independently dispatched to recover the leaked intelligence. I quickly saw Chuck wasn't a threat as someone who had worked with Bryce, and I fell for him almost immediately. Circumstances got worse the night of our first date, and Chuck saved a lot of lives in a way only Chuck could. Instead of taking Chuck away from his family and friends, Casey and I established covers to protect him here in LA. Chuck was my asset, I was his handler, and we weren't allowed to have a real relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend. It was hard on both of us.

"Circumstances changed, making Chuck's safety less of a concern, so Casey and I were recalled. I couldn't stay away, and here we are."

Throughout the story, Ellie remained completely attentive. When she realized Sarah was waiting for a reaction from her, she said, "Well that story makes more sense than the last one you told me. You being a spy is more logical than you being a rich heiress who every so often applies many skills to tasks for your family's company, whenever they threatened to cut you off."

Sarah also thought that story was a bit of a stretch. She would never have tried that cover. It was too big of a lie, kind of like the "Liechenstein." The CIA sometimes pulled cons to protect national interests, but never ones that were as crazy as some of her dad's ideas. She hoped there were more CIA agents in the world than families that blackmailed their privileged rich kids to work for them. The truth was she was fine with whatever Ellie could come to terms with that balanced protecting Chuck and letting Sarah in his life.

Sarah said, "Everything I told you when we last talked about what I do was true. I just didn't correct you when you filled in the blanks. I feel bad about it, but the fact that I'm a CIA agent is classified."

Ellie let out a huff and said, "'Classified.' Is that the new word for 'Complicated?'"

"It's the real word for why things were complicated. I can't tell you everything, of course. I can't tell Chuck everything. He underwent an extremely extensive background check after I first got here. Classification is complicated because it can be compartmentalized differently for different missions and people are often told only what others think they should know. I was the CIA field agent-in-charge for the operation with Chuck, so I am officially responsible for what can and what cannot be revealed."

Ellie accepted that explanation, but she still didn't seem satisfied. Sarah recognized the look as only slightly better than the one Ellie had when Chuck and she were a cover-couple and Chuck tried to say things were "complicated." Ellie said, "You two weren't really a couple." As Sarah suspected, that was more important to Ellie than the fact that Sarah knew how to shoot a gun.

Chuck said, "You weren't supposed to have any idea. She's the best. I often fooled myself."

Sarah added, "It was harder on us because I wished we were more than a cover-couple, but I couldn't do anything about it because my job was to keep him safe. I had to follow certain protocols, or I would be recalled, leaving his protection to another CIA agent. Or maybe one could say it was easier to make you think it was real because we didn't have to try too hard. Now, since we are no longer asset and handler, we get to be boyfriend and girlfriend in the way other people are when one of them isn't a CIA agent sworn to protect the other." _The other who had a supercomputer in his brain_, she mentally added.

She gave Chuck a peck on the cheek and held him closer. It might be easier if she just sat on his lap. Neither that position nor this position would be that professional for the serious conversation this was supposed to be, but she wanted to be as close as possible to Chuck, so this position would have to do.

Ellie firmly asked, "You can't tell us what you did when you left, but can you tell us why were you allowed to come back?"

Sarah answered, "As a favor to a friend, I helped her on a mission in LA. I missed Chuck terribly, so when I was still in the area afterwards, I came here. I left for my job again, but since I came back that second time, I've done some desk work here and my boss gave me permission to stay a little longer." She left out the part about local missions finding intel hidden by Chuck's dead college professor, capturing the man who poisoned Ellie, and Chuck and Sarah being captured by arms smugglers the day before.

"But you still have to go on another mission somewhere on Monday. Will you come back again?" Ellie asked. That question was a bit of a relief to Sarah. Chuck's sister seemed more concerned about Sarah coming back than about her being a spy who needed to go on missions.

Sensing on opportunity, Sarah said, "That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about this weekend. I know Chuck would like this idea, but I didn't want to get his hopes up. It's really up to the two of you. I wasn't sure how I could possibly ask this of you without you knowing of my true work affiliation. Now you know that. The lease for an apartment in DC, where I've only slept once since September, is expiring at the end of the year. I'd rather be here. I'm just a guest, but this place is more of a home than any place else I have ever lived, even when I was growing up. All of this has been almost too much to absorb tonight, but you know the truth now, which means asking you wouldn't be trying to get one passed you. Would you be ok if I moved in here?"

"What!?" That was from Chuck. "You want to live with me?"

"Absolutely," Sarah firmly answered.

He rapidly said, "Of course I want to live with you, but what about your job? The CIA is based in DC."

Sarah shrugged and said, "I'm almost never there. As a field agent, my work is typically overseas, which I can get to from here as easily as from there." It didn't hurt that the computer hook up from the bedroom of the once Human Intersect was more secure than CIA labs in DC, which had a recent history of being blown up.

She continued to explain, "A few years ago, the CIA's HR department issued strong guidelines that agents should have mental breaks between assignments. They were supposed to be rules. Most people treated them as mild recommendations. In the past, I tried to work around them. That means I have a few days with nothing to do every week or so. In the past, I've hated that and normally sought out opportunities to limit my time between assignments. My first stay in Burbank was one of my longest assignments. Previously, I worked a year in a CIA liaison position with the Secret Service, coordinating foreign protection details. Later, I worked with a team based in Europe that never returned stateside. If I were to officially live here, I'd have some place to which I'd _want_ to come home."

She turned to Ellie and Devon and said, "I don't want you to answer now. You have a lot to process. Just realize how important you all are to me. We can talk about all of this later this weekend. It's not like I'm going to take Chuck away from here so the two of us can live someplace else together. I'd never want to cause a rift between you and him. I love how close he is to his friends and family, and I know they're important to him."

She continued her reasoning, "Even if you decide it's not the best thing, I'll probably get my old apartment—the one I stayed in a month ago. CIA protocol says I should have no further contact with a former assert." Technically it didn't cover Chuck's situation because the agency hadn't broken all ties and he's still supposed to have periodic debrief 'check-ins,' even with his much lower status of security concern. She didn't need to scare the other two with information about Chuck's continuing involvement. "Despite typical practice, I ended up here. They know, and it's ok with them. Going forward, I want to stay close whenever I can."

Seeing no reaction, Sarah acknowledged, "This is too much pressure. Who would want to live with a spy? Chuck learned I was a spy on our first date, and he still had an understandable problem initially. Remember what happened to the soufflé. Don't think of it as living with a spy. Think of it as letting the woman who loves your brother stay here with him whenever she's in town."

Ellie and Devon stayed silent, too surprised to say anything. Devon, who had seemed almost enthusiastic about a spy dating his friend, was either more cautious about the idea of _living_ with one or had become resigned to go with whatever Ellie decided.

The front door opened, and Casey entered. He said they should call-in, and everyone went back to Chuck's room. Casey grabbed Bryce by the ropes that tightly bound his feet and hands in a way he could hang over a fire, and he literally tossed the former spy onto the bathroom floor. Chuck entered some codes on the TV remote, and the screen revealed an office with Director Graham and Casey's superior, General Beckman, both in the office late during the holiday.

The general spoke first. "What happened?"

Sarah answered, "General, fugitive Bryce Larkin showed up at a dinner gathering with civilians present and tried to contact me through Chuck. I incapacitated him, but Doctors Eleanor Bartowski and Devon Woodcomb witnessed him in their home."

Casey explained his part. "I was here, having been invited by Ellie when I stopped by to check on Chuck. Chuck's friends from the Buy More, Morgan Grimes and Anna Wu, were also here this evening. They knew the dinner was disrupted, but they think it was because of an injury to Agent Walker. They never learned what really happened. I verified that they returned home safely and that they weren't followed by enemy agents."

Sarah resumed the briefing, "Everyone thought Bryce was dead until today. Ellie and Devon saw that I had handcuffed him, so they knew something was up. I gave them a basic briefing that said Casey and I were originally sent out here because after Bryce committed treason, he sent an email to Chuck. Chuck was cleared of any responsibility, but we remained here until the threat level was lowered."

Graham continued to maintain a serious expression throughout the explanation. He simply said, "At least it was these two, not the other two."

Beckman said, "This is an example of why it is not a good idea to have these types of personal entanglements. Doctors, we apologize for this disruption. After tonight, you should see none of us from the CIA or NSA again. We'll stay out of your lives."

Ellie, who had stayed quiet until this point, spoke up. "It's ok. We understand that you're doing what you need to do to keep this country safe, and whatever you want to do to Bryce Larkin is fine with me. Thank you for your service. We're still going to see Sarah from time to time, though, because she's moving-in here."

Sarah formal exterior broke in shock. She looked over to Ellie and met her enormous smile. Casey released a single grunt, more of acceptance, not disapproval, and Sarah recomposed her expression before returning to look at the screen. Chuck and Ellie didn't hide their huge grins. Under his breath, Devon said, "Awesome." Sarah still didn't know what the two doctors thought of this whole thing, but at least she knew they accepted her enough to let her live in this home.

Beckman stayed silent, not knowing what to do with Ellie's assertion. Graham said, "Thank you for your understanding. We're still trying to determine the exact details of this entire situation, which started back in September. When we know more, it will remain classified, of course, so if everything goes well you'll never hear about it. It's good to know a couple true patriots are not getting in the way of us doing our jobs." Then he prompted, "Walker."

"Yes, Director. Please excuse us while we get settled here. Some of the things Casey and I still need to talk with you about involve the disposition of the prisoner, and the doctors don't need to be here for that discussion. We'll call back in five minutes after we get things sorted out on this side."

The screen was abruptly disconnected from the other end.

With the screen black, Sarah immediately wrapped Ellie in a hug. Chuck joined them. Devon didn't hesitate to be part of the group hug. Casey just grunted.

After a moment, they separated. Before Sarah could say anything more, Ellie said. "I don't claim to understand this whole spy thing, but you've kept Chuck safe. I know how you are with all of us. You're family. You belong here."

Sarah didn't try to stop her face from glowing. "It's hard to adequately say how good it feels just to hear to say that. We have to save this for later, though. I need to call back, so you need to go out to the other room while we talk about things like what to do with the guy that we wish was dead who is tied up in your bathroom."

Ellie said, "That's something I never thought I'd hear." She grabbed one of Devon's arms and said, "Honey, let's out of the way and let the spies do their jobs. I need to package up the food." To Casey, she said, "If it fits in with your spy plans, we're trying again tomorrow. John, you're still invited. Whatever plans you make, it better be safe because we have a seat for you reserved at our table."

He responded with a yes, ma'am. He knew there wasn't much point in going against Ellie when she made up her mind.

Sarah told Chuck to stay there. Ellie was surprised for a second, but didn't question it. Chuck had dealt with this spy stuff since Sarah first came into their lives, and if any non-spy had the right to know what happened to Bryce, Chuck did.

With the doctors out of the room, the remaining three had a couple minutes before it was time to call back. Casey started to give a warning that seemed like one of those "don't hurt her" things, but he stopped, looked at Sarah, and said, "Never mind. She's got this."

Sarah said to Casey, "We have no proof Bryce's claims are true. Someone kept him alive and smuggled him back into the country. I know you saw Professor Fleming's tape. That shows Bryce has a long pattern of lying to the CIA and selling out those he claimed were closest to him. Even if he wanted to invalidate Chuck's test results, he could have simply framed Chuck for cheating to cause him to fail the test and escape the CIA's interest. When he went the extra step of fabricating stories about him selling answer keys, he got him expelled. In my opinion, that was vindictive. Also risky. If Chuck had challenged it in a hearing, Bryce couldn't produce witnesses, putting his role as a CIA agent at risk. I don't think he can be trusted, but that's up to our superiors."

Casey nodded in understanding, so she continued, "I know the NSA is working on constructing a new Intersect." That surprised Casey. That was supposed to be a secret. "We don't know if it will be successful. Chuck's subliminal image comprehension score is 10% higher than anyone else, even for the scores I saw for the tests given to all agents. We don't know what level of retention is enough. Other people may not have the ability to retain all of the Intersect like Chuck does. Even if Bryce is not an enemy himself, he was drugged and in enemy custody for a couple months. We don't know if Chuck's identity was revealed. He's needed as a backup if future agent downloads don't work, even if that means he'd be conscripted as an intelligence analyst. Chuck still needs protection. I assume the NSA will want someone here, but I'm staying regardless. I won't be his official CIA handler. I'm fairly certain Director Graham will support this distinction. The rest of the CIA doesn't know his role in all of this anyway."

Casey slowly looked back and forth between them. He grunted in a way that Chuck and Sarah knew meant he was fine with that plan. He said, "Everyone is talking about how you finished that job in Eastern Europe, which I figured you did just to get back here. The person who could do that is the type of person I want as my partner."

Chuck reconnected the video call, and they all made plans for how the three would work together as Team Bartowski again.

* * *

A/N: Season 4 showed the team worked just fine without a cover-couple. They were ok with Devon knowing at the end of season 2. Ellie's dad had to die before she found out, but she seemed ok with living next door to four spies in season 4, even with a baby on the way.


	8. Role Models

_Posted June 4, 2019_

* * *

_**Two months later**_

* * *

Chuck quietly closed the front door and quietly spoke to the woman waiting for him leaning against the side of the building. "Mission accomplished."

With a bit of a laugh, she said, "I can't believe you pulled it off."

Chuck said, "_We_ pulled it off. Well, it'll make one hell of a story at their wedding." To her sharp look, he added, "Which I'm never allowed to talk about under fear of death. Understood. I have other material that works and can be said in front of a hundred guests."

She started to turn toward the window and said, "You wanna?"

Chuck said "What? Spy? You?" They both looked in the window to see an elated Ellie hugging Devon. It looked like she accepted the proposal, as if there was ever a doubt.

Chuck said, "She looks so happy."

Sarah agreed, "Yeah, she does."

"I couldn't leave them yet."

"You don't have to worry about that. You're safe," Sarah assured him.

The last day and a half had been a fiasco. Chuck found a Fulcrum listening device in the Buy More. The bad guys wouldn't even care about that place if it hadn't been the location of the fight during Bryce's hand-off. When the government worked to track-down the truth, Ellie's engagement ring, which Devon had hidden with Chuck, had been misplaced. Sarah had done too good of job convincing her superiors that while Chuck's Intersect was suppressed, he was still a valuable resource because of his proven ability to retain the Intersect data better than they ever believed possible. It didn't matter that he no longer had access to the Intersect itself because he had a proven skill set that could be used if regular agents struggled with the new Intersect. They wanted Chuck away from a possible Fulcrum threat, so they almost extracted him to a secure government facility.

The leak was sealed, a Fulcrum agent was captured, and the ring was found. That meant Chuck and Sarah could safely return home.

Sarah asked, "Don't you think you should go in and congratulate Ellie?"

Chuck asked back, "You wanna come in with me?"

"Oh, it's family time," she said, indicating it wasn't her place. The apartment was her home now, but this was something more.

"I know. You're family, too," Chuck said, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him into the apartment.

Ellie shared her excitement through big hugs to both Chuck and Sarah. Devon followed with his own set of hugs.

Ellie became serious. She looked at Sarah and asked, "What happened?"

Sarah looked at Chuck's clothes, then down at herself to see if they looked like they had been up all night looking through a dumpster for the engagement ring. They weren't exactly clean, but she didn't think that was it.

Before Sarah could feign that nothing had happened, Ellie said, "Don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong. Morgan showed me the ring yesterday when he thought it was from Chuck to you. I caught John and Chuck searching this room yesterday looking for that big fish, which meant something was going on because the NSA wouldn't care what Big Mike had on his wall. Devon had a romantic night planned for me, but the proposal didn't happen until this morning. I assume a mission for national security came into play."

Sarah should have known Ellie would figure out something had happened. Sarah just told her, "It's classified."

"Of course it is. At least that's easier to except than 'it's complicated.'"

Ellie wouldn't consciously keep digging, but it wouldn't just end there, so Sarah decided she should at least say a little more. "Something happened at the Buy More. That's the classified part. By coincidence, the stuffed marlin from Big Mike's office was taken out of the store as a prank by a couple of the Nerd Herders, and Morgan found your ring, which Chuck was hiding for Devon. The three things mixed together, causing the ring to be… temporarily misplaced. The security issue was resolved, the ring was found, and Big Mike even got his fish back."

"Thank you for telling me that much. I'm engaged now, so I'm too happy to care about any further details that I don't need to know anyway." She went around the room and gave everyone another hug.

Sarah could barely believe how well she had been accepted into this entire group since she had moved in two months before.

A couple months ago, when Devon offered to help put her stuff around the apartment after it was shipped in from DC, she had to admit that she had nearly no personal effects to move in. She had a suitcase full of clothes and had purchased personal items for use in Echo Park. She didn't have any souvenirs from her world travels and no pictures she cared about on the walls of her apartment. The only photo she really cared about was the loose one of her and Chuck that she kept in her suitcase, having none from her childhood. Her furniture and kitchen utensils were provided by the agency. Her DC apartment didn't have a personal computer, TV, or stereo. She normally got mission attire from the agency too—except for the T-shirts of Chuck's that she had appropriated. She didn't even like the alarm clock she had at her DC apartment. She didn't want to take down Chuck's posters now that they were hanging in what was her room too, but Chuck promised to take her shopping for other things they could put on the walls together.

Moving Sarah in had mostly been a matter of changing her official address with CIA HR administration. Chuck was already her emergency contact. Ellie thought maybe a spy needed a gun locker or something. She still didn't know that Sarah already had go-bags for her and Chuck in his bedroom and a weapons safe under the sofa cushions in the living room.

In the impromptu post-engagement celebration, Ellie asked Sarah, "Would you be my maid of honor, or is this one of those things you can't do because you might have to leave in a moment's notice to save the world?"

Sarah was so surprised and honored, she reacted and immediately said, "I would love to be your maid of honor." She hugged the other woman yet again. Sarah figured she would let Graham know early that she had a completely unavoidable obligation. She normally didn't plan that far ahead, but this time, she'd have something on her otherwise empty calander. She had found a way to live with Chuck. If she could possibly be there for Ellie, she would.

Ellie had been maintaining a grin ever since she had accepted the proposal and Sarah and Chuck started spying through the window. If anything, it seemed to be getting bigger. She asked Sarah, "Do you know how long you get to stay with us? I want you to keep protecting the world, with us in it, if you need to be somewhere else, but having you here has been great."

Sarah hadn't needed to go away for missions in three months. Ellie and Devon didn't ask about the reason she wasn't needed elsewhere because they assumed the CIA would tell her to leave when they needed her. The real reason was Chuck and the circumstances that surrounded him.

General Beckman and Director Graham trusted Bryce. They considered him a good agent with excellent skills who made a couple of monumentally bad decisions while trying to do the right thing. If it wasn't for Fulcrum agents attacking the Buy More during his hand-off, they would probably still assume he was making up stories. They just planned to keep a short leash on him, shorter than normal for an agent going deep undercover. His reappearance had resulted in a reevaluation of Chuck's safety.

Sarah was successful in making them realize that Chuck was still a valuable ally of the government, even if he couldn't currently access the Intersect. Casey had resumed his post across the courtyard providing security, this time with less surveillance in Chuck's bedroom. To the NSA, he was Chuck's handler, and Chuck was his asset.

The CIA's position on the matter was more pragmatic. The official opinion was that Chuck was safer than they could reasonably expect if Sarah was home, which happened to be where Chuck lived. If she wasn't around or Chuck was at work, Casey was there. She was being allowed to stay in Southern California for now, partially because Director Graham kept receiving mission proposals requesting his mysterious super agent to help accomplish their goals. The story of Sarah's exploits for that mission she had completed before rushing back to Chuck had taken a life of its own. Many strategists in multiple agencies were coming up with crazy ideas that were normally not suggested, even for something like Seal Team 6. Now the craziest ideas seemed possible with the aid of the agent who had single-handedly accomplished what she did. Director Graham didn't want to loan her out, so he was content for her to provide what he called a "valuable service," at least until the fervor died down.

Sarah was around the apartment most days, with Chuck disappearing to his job as assistant manager and Ellie and Devon to their irregular shifts at the hospital. When Chuck was gone, she spent most of the time logged into the CIA network from Chuck's computer and doing her daily workouts. She asked Casey once to spar, and he firmly refused. She accused him of worrying too much about a female agent because she could handle herself. He said that wasn't it. It was because he had no desire to receive a beating from the "Phantom of Kraków."

Casey had to have let something slip, probably not realizing the nickname was something to keep from Chuck. Two nights later, they were watching a movie with Billy Zane that Chuck said was important. He chose that one because he didn't want to ruin a six movie series for her by watching the first one first. After the selected superhero movie was over, he apologized. He had picked it instead of the 2004 _Phantom of the Opera_ movie because he got nightmares when he was twelve after watching the stage production in Los Angeles. It may have had something to do with the fact that his teen-aged sister blasted the music on her speakers for two weeks before and after they went to the show. It was a good thing Sarah didn't know who came up with the nickname. She blamed that person for almost two hours of her life that she'd never get back.

While she had resisted Ellie's offer to teach her how to cook some complex dishes, she quickly volunteered to be a chef's assistant. A couple weeks after Sarah moved in, Ellie told Devon that she had decided they should get a single, big gift for the two of them because she no longer saw the need for a food processor. That was a veiled reference to the slicing job Sarah had done before dinner.

One evening when getting ready for bed, Chuck suggested Sarah go away on a fake mission for a couple days as a cover so Ellie and Devon would think she was still getting called away. She said there was no need to rub spy stuff in their faces when it wasn't even true. They seemed to readily accept "classified" as an excuse.

It wasn't just Chuck's latent skills at absorbing the Intersect or Fulcrum's interest in the region. Sarah wondered if Chuck was trying to find ways to keep her there. She agreed with the goal, but not his methods. Chuck had been actively finding things for the team to do in LA, so she was still doing real missions on a regular basis. First, there was a counterfeit bill that Chuck found on Lon Kirk's yacht. Then, there was the list of Russian names he found after a couple of Nerd Herders broke through security on a computer they were supposed to be fixing. Sarah was mad he was still doing that kind of stuff, even though he was the only reason they knew about the threats.

In her opinion, he needed to select someone that he could trust to take his place as Nerd Herd supervisor so workers in the Herd stopped coming to him. The way things were, he'd find little things that he thought were odd and take them to Casey. Admittedly, it was a little strange that the guards on a boat didn't seem to care about that much money falling on the floor. Chuck just profiled that a list of that many Russian names was potentially bad news. Casey was the one to recognize the name of a former girlfriend he had thought was dead. Chuck took all of the information he found to Casey first because the NSA agent was closest, working with Chuck at the Buy More again, but also because Casey was willing to jump at the tiniest leads. Sarah presumed Casey was like that because he had an itchy trigger finger and wanted more action.

Two full nights after Casey and Chuck ended up falling from a hotel balcony into a swimming pool while tied to a chair, Sarah was still furious. They didn't tell Ellie and Devon anything. They didn't have to. The doctors had to have known something was wrong based on how Sarah was acting and how Chuck was groveling.

To Ellie's wedding availability question, Sarah responded, "I don't know how long I'll be here. Director Graham said he'll give me as much notice as he can because I've been here for a few months. He's also said he's been satisfied with what I've been doing. 'Satisfied' is 'good' for him. Things may change, but right now, everything is perfect."

Chuck hugged her to his side and squeezed, backing her statement by presenting a unified pair. He knew that Sarah was here as long as the CIA or NSA had concerns about his safety and the CIA didn't want to concede full control of the Intersect project to the NSA, but he wasn't about to worry his sister about her brother's involvement.

Instead, he offered to make drinks.

With nods around the room, Chuck went to fill four glasses. Sarah followed him and said there was good stuff in the fridge instead of that inexpensive wine that Chuck usually used. The engagement ring might have been missing, but she knew Chuck would do anything to find it and Ellie would say yes, so she had champagne cooling since the afternoon before. She knew Devon was preparing a romantic dinner for two, so he had been tipped off to not say anything about any bottle he saw when he was in the fridge.

After they all shared a toast, Devon used his glass to point to Chuck and Sarah and said, "You two are next."

Chuck swallowed loudly and looked over to Sarah, whose expression held what was clearly a forced smile. Sarah said, "Why would we do that?" Everyone's jovial mood was immediately deadened. She continued, "I love just living with Chuck, so why mess with a good thing?"

They all remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, Ellie said, "We're sorry. We don't mean to pressure you or anything. We do love having you here. Before Christmas, I tried hinting to Chuck that he could give you one of these." She held up her hand, showing the ring. "He rightly thought it wasn't the best thing at this time."

Raising her wrist to present a silver charm bracelet, Sarah said, "I absolutely love what I got." The beautiful family heirloom was the best gift that Sarah ever remembered receiving. She wore it all of the time. She even put it on immediately when getting back in the car to go home after a night of fighting a Fulcrum agent and searching through a dumpster.

They changed the topic and just enjoyed each other's company the rest of the day. After Devon left for his night-shift, Sarah called Casey to ensure he knew the news. He had witnessed it from the window after Chuck and Sarah had entered the apartment. He also had called in an official report about the apprehension of the Fulcrum agent to both Beckman and Graham, so Sarah had no spy duties.

After a few minutes in bed, Sarah thought Chuck was asleep. She wasn't very tired, even though she had been awake since the previous morning. Too many fantastic things had happened, and they made her feel wide awake. She leaned over Chuck and verified that he looked asleep.

She whispered, "Are you awake? Can you hear me, Chuck?" With no response, she continued, "I love you, Chuck. Nothing's ever gonna change that. And if you asked me for real, then my answer would be yes."

She spooned behind him and felt him pull her arm so she was even closer.

* * *

A/N: That's all for this one. What would happen next? Check out "Chuck & His Roommate vs the Next Mission."


End file.
